A Sweet Release
by Mustsleep
Summary: Ch 13. Shinobi : Life is made up of moments and it is those moments that make life worth living. ItaSaku Romance. Genre and story change by chapter.
1. Driven

_Title: Driven  
Genres: General and Hurt/Comfort  
Summary: They were both people, driven to death for the same cause. AU Non-Mass._

_A/n: A Sweet Release is meant as a release for my creative thought. This will be where I post shots about Itachi and Sakura. Chapters will be labeled by the first in the series as you may note, this chapter is denoted as 'Driven' if I ever make a follow-up it will be posted as 'Driven 2'. This is to get me back into writing, when my creativity is at a low for my other works. Please give a round of applause for__** Hypermanic**__ who was kind enough to beta this story for me. Enjoy, Z.z  
_

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They were both driven. Driven by their own hearts; driven by their own beliefs; driven to the point they died for a cause they believed to be right. It was sad that they were unable to see, plainly, how they were the same; because they were so similar it was scary.

To begin at the end, they both died alone and unwanted. They both loved people so much that it caused their hearts to break. They both believed that the world could one day be made innocent, given enough healing and careful planning. They both looked toward the future with hope; that things would eventually right themselves; like a team could be made whole or a killer justified. They both enjoyed the simple things in life; like a cup of tea, a book of haiku. They both struggled with inner demons, a literal 'inner' and figurative guilt.

To return to the end, they both died alone and unwanted. They died because they were driven by a cause, with a belief, that was greater than oneself. A selfless death, one might say; not that anyone truly cared about the clan murderer or the weakest member of Team Seven. Both hated the life of the shinobi where there was only death and lies. They went against their own philosophy and gave all they could, their very breath, to protect what they loved. One killed a clan to save his brother and his village while the other killed the brother to save the village.

Yes, they both loved the village, an inanimate object which did not love them back; yet another frightening similarity.

But it wasn't really the village that they loved. They loved the way the wind whispered through the leaves, the quiet of a late afternoon training session, the lights as they shined upon the faces of the mountain, the way civilians carried on innocently. They simply loved the foundation of their village. That foundation created two pacifist souls who desired peace.

Peace, such a controversial word. A sorrowful word. A painful word. It was also that same word that brought those two pure-hearted individuals to their knees as they soaked in their own blood.

Peace.

Two lives ruined by the tainted truth some evil man fed them.

How sad. To be driven by something, that in the end, turned out to be just another lie.

**I'm Here:**

He was completely alone and the distressing thing was that it was painful. He wanted to be rebuked for his crimes. He wanted his cousin to scream at him. He wanted his mother to cry at him. He wanted his father to try and kill him. He wanted his clan to be disappointed in him.

He wanted something.

He wanted someone.

Someone to tell him what was right and what was wrong, if all of his planning was for nothing.

He now understood though.

He was most likely in hell.

This world with no one in it was where he belonged for his actions of treason, murder and betrayal. He was surprised that he was not forced to relive all of the painful, bloody memories over again; of course, he relived them willingly every day anyways.

It took him three years to realize that this was his punishment that he did not even deserve to be rebuked. When he realized that he would be left to his thoughts, he submitted. He believed the punishment was justified.

"Eternity alone," he had quietly murmured.

Then his eyes opened to an abnormal sight of color.

It was like a fading picture. A woman, lying in a pool of blood, a katana sticking up from her chest cavity, was before him. Her body jolted as electricity seemed to make her nervous system react.

He got to his feet and quietly moved forward to look down at the woman lying on the ground.

His question was answered. All of his planning was for naught.

Slowly the woman and blood came into focus, the translucent scene becoming more real at every passing second, while the katana and wounds became a blur until they disappeared altogether.

The dull green eyes began to lighten to the color he knew them to be. And then she began to choke, raggedly coughing up the blood still in her lungs.

He kneeled at her side, lifting her to sit upright. He let his fingers slip through the blood clotted pink hair as he tried to comfort her. "Shh…" He whispered quietly, "I'm here."

The woman continued to struggle for each breath but she slowly gained control of her breathing.

Itachi looked down at the woman, knowing only one thing for certain. She was his redemption.

**Voice:**

When she realized who he was, she growled. Realizing that she couldn't move because her body was weak, made her growl louder. When she comprehended she didn't have enough chakra to even crack the porcelain face before her, everything broke loose inside which caused the growl to become a snarl, which caused another coughing fit.

He didn't move though. He supported her back with his hand because if he removed it she would fall back onto the hard surface. He would not ruin his chance; no matter what the woman threw at him, he would remain her constant companion of solace in the empty world. He never thought that he would sink so low as to need someone else; but being in an empty world alone with only dark thoughts for several years had changed him. He needed a distraction, now more than ever, because he now knew that everything he had planned had been demolished in his absence.

The same little girl that had obliterated the only comfort he had of believing that his little brother had become of a powerful hero was now the only distraction he had from his distress. But she wouldn't speak to him; the only sounds she made were those that mimicked animals. Even though there were none in this world, the man still remembered what they sounded like.

He became the physical structure which she relied on. He gave her water; fed her the local vegetation; waited patiently as she snarled and threw things at him while her motor skills returned to her. He even gave her his shoulder when she burst into tears at random moments, although those moments never lasted long. She hated touching him.

He rarely spoke, but when he did he tried not mention the old life but instead tried to explain the life they were now in. He took her outside when he began to educate her on the new world because there was no other way she would believe him. He started off by telling her that there were no animals and no fish. That after a while, the silence in the air would become natural. He also told her of how the world seemed to resemble their old home and how he remembered it. Everything was complete; there were clothes hanging up to dry, medicine in the cupboards, dirty dishes in the sink; except for the missing life forms and dust. Nothing seemed to age in this world besides the plants. She listened to what he had to say, but only nodded her head in acknowledgement of his statements. Then the silence would return.

He was not bothered by the silence. For once, he did not have time to brood on things of the past because the newly recovered, super-strength woman kept him on his toes when his attention wavered.

She had just thrown another cup at him and he had caught it with his index finger without breaking it into pieces. Then she laughed; a hard, angry, rough laugh; while she stood and pointed a finger at him. After that she glared and the look said one thing 'You killed me, you killed your clan, you destroyed my family, you forced my two brothers into trying to kill each other, and you ultimately shattered my village. You're the one to blame.'

The light green eyes darkened and then she collapsed to her knees. A cry, that snapped the already broken heart of the man, escaped from her lips. Her body leaned over and she cried, at first, with dry heaves. Her body then poured out tears as she coughed on her own salt water. Her fist hit the ground, but there was no chakra in it. Her nails dug into the wooden floor and she continued to cry.

He simply moved closer to her and gently patted her on the back, because it was the only thing he could do. He was the reason her life had been horrible. He knew he was the one to blame. He silently gathered the shaking body and held her close as her heart continued to pour out undrinkable water. It took the woman several hours to stop crying and the pause only came because she became emotionally exhausted. Her forehead rested against his shoulder and her body came to a still.

Then for the first time he heard her voice.

"Thank you."

And he knew he didn't deserve her thanks.

**Reality:**

'Monster' was the actual word that classified the man in front of her in the bingo book she once owned.

Five months is what the monster said when he explained how long she had been in this 'new world'. He had been here more than three years.

But three years didn't seem like enough time for someone to change so drastically, especially one with the genetics of an Uchiha. The man who killed her still 'hn'-ed and yet, this one didn't. The monster had brought her water, fed her food, and helped her stand to get to the bathroom or to go on walks. Monsters did not do things for other people; monsters made life hell for others.

The man before her… No. She clarified once more, the monster before her did not match her definition.

He made her scared; she knew what he could do to her but he was… too nice.

She hated not understanding what was going on. So far, they seemed to be left in this world together. She hated that also. She didn't want to be with him or near him because she knew exactly what he had done. He murdered her teammate's family, made one of her brothers strive for revenge and the other fear for his life. He ultimately had forced the choices that carved the painful path of Team Seven.

Her eyes narrowed at the man as he set down her refilled cup of tea. He picked up her dirty plate and walked back into the kitchen where she could hear him set it on the counter. He returned to the room then sat with his back against the wall to her side. His eyes flickered over to her and watched her with coal black eyes.

Something was wrong… The thing in the room with her was supposed to be evil… but it wasn't… She would have believed it was all an illusion if she hadn't screamed 'Kia!' at the top of her lungs, whenever he had left to gather food, for the first week.

Surreal was what the world seemed like; perhaps it always had been.

She always believed her team would be put back together; that she would get married to her childhood crush; that she would take over the hospital. She believed that broken pieces could be glued together, to resemble the whole once more.

Obviously she had been clueless about reality; she was dead and so were all her hopes and dreams. She drained the cup in one gulp. Everything she had wished for growing up had been taken away with one final blow of a chidori laced katana; something which she could only blame herself for not dodging.

She glanced at the monster. His coal eyes stared at her unfocused. She had yet to see him activate his blood limit… She thought he would keep it activated; that all of his kind enjoyed having such power over others.

Her grip tightened on the cup. Even dead he somehow had power over his younger brother.

She threw the tea cup at him.

He easily caught it with an index finger. Even unfocused the monster couldn't be touched. There was no need for him to waste his blood limit. She rose to her feet to glare down at him. She wasn't worthy in his eyes. She gave a hard laugh. She had never been worthy in anybody's eyes had she? She'd always been the one left behind; the weak one, the one unfit to fight, the one that needed to be protected.

Her hand rose on its own accord; wanting to accuse the 'monster' before her.

The coal eyes widened slightly revealing the pain inside of his eyes. Monsters' weren't supposed to have an ounce of humanity.

Nothing seemed real anymore.

She could hear her heart shatter in her chest and she fell while crying in pain.

It took several moments before she realized she was being held by something warm. She only cried harder because it wasn't real. It couldn't be real. If it was real, then her entire life had been a lie.

When she finally cracked open her eyes enough to look at him; she finally saw. He was just a man, a man who was not a monster but something different.

"Thank you," she whispered, because maybe—just maybe—she had found reality.

**Search:**

"Search." He demanded in the annoying tone he always used when he seemed to think she might try to get out of it.

She glared him down in return.

His lips twitched.

She growled.

"Sakura."

She hated his condescending tone. Out of all the people to be stuck with for eternity…

"You find it," she snarled.

The man gave one of his mischievous smirks, which were becoming more occasional after five years of being stuck on the same abandoned planet together.

He shrugged, "I don't need it." The man then turned his back and began walking away.

"You lost it!" She screamed.

"How?" He questioned, sparing her a glance. "When the glove was on your hand?"

She spat on the ground before him while cracking her knuckles in a threatening manner. "I don't know; but you obviously had something to do with it."

The man turned again, throwing the glove over his shoulder at her. "It took you two hours to realize it was missing. Please notice things sooner."

The woman put the glove back on.

Then, making sure his back was turned, she let her frown turn into a smile, at least the man tried to keep her entertained.

**Insanity:**

It happened very slowly …

(jk ^-^ )


	2. Torn

_Title: Torn  
Genre: General  
Summary: In the midst of a bloody and snowy battlefield, there was an angel. Naruto/Revolutionary war fic_

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He met her on the battle field.

Her white petticoat rippled in the wind like a white flag of surrender. Her steps on the snow crunched the fresh powder and cracked through the ice. Her voice was soft and gentle as she called out orders to others in the field; those still able to walk were to carry the wounded. Her form soon came before him. She was glorious, an angel of death he would willingly submit to. Her soft, long pink hair twisted in the wind, escaping from her white bonnet. Her thin lips tilted in a smile as she told him he was still alive. He'd rather go to heaven with her and told her so.

The world seemed to lighten at her laughter, but it could have been that the sun appeared from behind the storm clouds. Everything drifted out of focus for him as he felt all warmth leave his body. There was no regret though. He was dying for a country that had yet to be born, for a freedom that the world had yet to believe possible. There was nothing to regret. His sacrifice was the price for such a worthy cause.

There was also the fact that he was going to be delivered into heaven by the most majestic being he had ever seen in his twenty-eight years of life.

Light, caressing fingertips grazed his face as he began to lose focus on the world of the living. The pressure of the touch increased as if trying to remind him that he was still on earth.

'Brother!' A hectic voice broke through the air, bringing him back to consciousness.

His younger brother hadn't died on the battle field. A weight seemed to be lifted from his chest.

'Itachi!' the voice had dropped into hushed tones; no doubt he had been rebuked by the general. They may have won their first battle, in seven months, but that did not mean there were not more red coats in the area.

"Itachi hmm?" the light, gentle, caressing voice asked.

If he had known this had awaited him on the other side he might have wandered into a bullets path long ago.

He tried to keep his eyes focused on the woman above him. Her green eyes seemed to lighten with mirth upon glancing toward the voice of his brother.

"Your brother called me a pathetic woman last time he was in Stoney Brook…" the woman trailed off, a thoughtful look on her face.

The woman sighed coming back to the present after a moment's hesitation. "But as a member of the Society of Friends I shall n't let you die." Her lips twitch, though, as if she might actually consider the thought. At least her apparel now had some meaning; but even the plain dress looked like _saque_ that an angel might wear. Her commanding attitude had meaning as well; the Society of Friends was known to allow women more rights.

Something his father had rebuked and embedded such thoughts into his younger brother. Of course, that did not mean women were to be disrespected. They would have been brought to their knees if they'd ever called a woman 'pathetic' in front of their father.

"Pick him up and bring him to cabin," the woman's voice had taken an undertone of indifference. He heard boots crunch the grass near him and felt his body grabbed and carried; they had no more satchels to carry the wounded. Pain rippled through his body like a stone dropped in a lake. His vision clouded but he did not cry out. He kept his eyes upon the woman; whose blurry appearance once again resembled an angel.

If by some sheer luck, she managed to save him; and if they ever managed to defeat the mother country before they were hanged for treason; and if the torn country they lived in ever found unity. Then he promised himself; he would find a woman like her. A woman that could wander into a battlefield and make even hell itself look like heaven.

_A/n: The truth is George Washington "lost" majority of his battles (he retreated). But he is called a great military tactician because, even though his men were outnumbered, his retreats were well organized (keeping his people alive and getting wounded off the field) and he was able to inflict heavy losses on the British, which was super-power #1 + ( American people who were loyal to British.)_

_Eventually; with help of the French, other allies and geographical complications of Great Britain's location; the patriots were able to force the British to surrender in the battle of Yorktown, October 17th 1781; this ended the military conflict. In September of 1783 the peace treaty with the Great Britain was signed; and Britain then recognized the States as an independent nation._

_Without an outstanding tactician and brave men/women to offer their lives there would be no United States of America. For those of you living in U.S., be grateful for your freedom because there was a price paid for it._

_*Society of Friends = Quakers_

_A tad bit of a tangent but I believe it is very important piece of history. I hoped you enjoyed, Z.z_


	3. Two Broken People

_Prompt: Bloody Stay  
Title: Two Broken People  
Genre: Angst and General.  
__**Warnings: This one-shot contains violence and is also extremely dark. **__  
Summary: She is everything he ever wanted to be and yet he has no choice. She has to die. _

_A/n: I can't say 'enjoy this piece' as that would be rather odd. I would say 'I hope you don't' but again, that would be rather odd. Thank you for reading my work. For those of you, who have reviewed, I am very grateful for the feedback. –Z.z_

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He hated her with all of his being.

He let the chunk of pink hair fall from his gasp. She was before him, chained to the wall with blood pouring from her skull. She had to look at him in the eyes to create the most absolute genjutsus, although it wasn't required. But eye contact also was psychological factor that was in his favor. Although to get her to look at him required some effort on his part. The entire floor was pretty much covered in her blood and hair, which he learned yanking earned him more of a reaction then slamming her around.

It wasn't like he had a choice though. And that lack of choice made him angry. That was why he hated her; because of her, he had no choice. Not only that, she could and would ruin everything he'd built.

Pein had captured her to heal his eyes because the 'leader' couldn't afford him to be blind. After all, he was a brilliant, genius assassin who used gen-justus, which required sight to prefect even though he was doing just fine. If he wasn't the one to interrogate her into submissiveness, the task would have been given to another. Eventually they would break her, because they all broke. But when she did, she would realize the state of his body; she had to die before she found out. He had to be the one to do it, because if not the result would not be pleasing.

It was needless to say, but he hated killing one of his own, someone from the only place he'd ever called home. There wasn't an option though. Letting her escape was letting the rest of the missing-nins know he was still a loyalist. Letting her see the state of his lungs and heart wasn't an option either. She would say something to the others. She would then heal him. His little brother wouldn't be able to defeat him then.

The defiance in her eyes was already draining. Her body was beyond repair, blackened and gashed. Her mind… He feared what he'd done to her mind. Never before had he used a focused gen-jutsu so many times on one person. Nothing could be done for her though. He could not destroy the ruse he had created, not when he was so close to achieving his goal. His brother would be a hero, achieving vengeance for the death of the clan. And Itachi would die the villain, but happy that his brother was the one to defeat him. His brother was almost ready; his brother had to be ready, because he was dying and no healer was going to stop that.

He was going to make sure of it.

She met his eyes, no longer trying to prevent the inevitable. Another chunk of her hair would litter the floor if she tried any resistance. Her screams bounced off the walls of the small brick cell deep in the underground base. It seemed to him, his entire life had been surrounded by nothing but blood curdling cries. It was ok though. It meant the screams were just background noises now.

He used to feel guilty, back when he was younger and more naïve. Then after two years of being a missing-nin something inside of him changed. For the worse or for the better, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that it kept him alive. It had ridden him of the burden he carried.

Now he was apathetic. Forgiveness was past him. Guilt was past him. He was just doing what had to be done for his sake and his brother's. His brother was nearing insanity with power; an insane hero wasn't his objective. But soon it would all come to an end. Having the girl would just increase his brother's anger and power; in the end it would work out for the better. That he knew for certain.

Even though the boy had tried to distance himself from his genin team to gain power, there was still the connection. It would have been better for her to be something his brother returned to after destroying him; but there was no helping it now.

The Kyuubi and his brother would be alright without her. The only thing that would be missed would be her medical skills. There were always more medics. She was just too replaceable. If she wasn't, he would have to think of a way to save her.

He didn't have too. She was going to die. She wasn't going to interfere. He hated what he did but it had to be done. It was best to not let her suffer anymore, or give her a chance to submit. Today would be her last.

With a quick hand sign her consciousness was back and she sagged against her chains.

He cleared his throat and like a beaten, submissive dog she raised her head. One of her eyes wouldn't open the other was half focused, somewhat staring at him, somewhat not. Soon her suffering would be over. It was her fault really. It was her fault she chose to be a shinobi. She could have remained as a civilian and no harm would have come to her. He tried not to harm the innocent at all costs. But by taking up the shinobi code she had forfeited her innocence for a tainted pathway.

She wasn't like him. He hadn't had a choice. He hates that about her too. The life she chose was the life he never wanted. Why? He didn't want to know. Questions made bonds, bonds made things harder to complete a job; it made it harder to kill people. He could live without knowing.

His job was murdering. He couldn't ask. He wanted to ask. He wouldn't ask. It was best she died now.

He extended it to her, her end; a tiny pill in the palm of his hand.

"Mercy, oh grand Uchiha?" She spat, blood, at him. Defiance flickered in her dulling green eyes.

The sarcasm. It was funny. It was a sad last act. When there was no option for rebutting with anything physical she'd chosen sarcasm. Just sarcasm. There was no accusation of him being a monster. There was no plead or thankfulness for offering generosity to her state. She hadn't sold out the Kyubi's location or any other Konoha secret.

The woman before him was a true Konoha shinobi. He hated that too because he once was a Konoha shinobi , but that was before he had to choose between being a good man and joining his clan, before he'd been given the order to eliminate them all.

He wanted to know what she was thinking. Out of all of his victims, his hundreds of thousands of victims, she was one of five that had used sarcasm. "I'm surprised you don't call me a monster," after all; that was the usual nickname.

Her swollen jaw moved slightly as she tried to smile, "There is no reason for me to tell you what you are. You already know."

He nodded to her. Yes, she was correct. That was what he was in the world's terms. That was what he was to her, for what he'd done. The sad thing was it wasn't what he ever wanted to become. There had never been another option.

Even though she was his opponent; he had to respect her. She hadn't pointed out the obvious. But respect would not save her. If she did not take the pill; then he would just kill her another way, a more painful way, a more monstrous way.

His eyes started to spin and his world became even blurrier. He would finish her with his Tsukuyomi.

Her bloody cries became something far more inhumane inside of his red and black world. But it was only a second before the body sagged; lost in the torturous ravine he'd left her in.

He picked up her chin with one of his hands; he inspected the damage he'd done, memorizing every detail.

He leaned over her and kissed her bloody skull. He straightened up and ran his tongue across his lips. It tasted different than his blood; the taste of iron was much stronger.

With a sigh he backed away and took in the scene. Hair, blood, a couple of teeth rested upon the floor. Drips of blood dropped silently in puddles at her feet. He committed it all to memory. He kneeled and picked up her headband, it had been the first thing he'd removed. He'd slammed it upon the ground, with more force than he should have used. He'd lost an ounce of control. Just an ounce...

He began bending the metal back into its original form, being careful and precise. When he was done, he swiped off the blood splatter on the metal. He rose and walked over to the quiet body. He tied the headband back on while trying not to disturb the wound.

His hand brushed over the unslashed, indented sign.

She was one of the very few that hadn't broken mentally under his interrogation. He'd even gone past the harshness he usually used. He closed his eyes; still seeing the room and woman in detail.

"Sakura Haruno," He murmured quietly, his voice pronouncing the name with a slight awkwardness. He memorized the way the two words sounded.

If she didn't wake up, which she wouldn't, then Kisame would be given the task of finishing her off. He would not see the broken body again. That was why he kept memories.

He opened his eyes then turned and left the room.


	4. Trust

_Title: Trust  
Genre: Family and General  
Summary: At some point, she would have to trust him to make the decision. But, she still had time and she would use it to her advantage.  
Sakura – old | Itachi – 8 | Shisui - 13 | Tekka – 16_

_A/n: I enjoyed writing this twist on time traveling. I hope you do to. There is a second chapter that is found later in Sweet Release. Thank you for taking the time to read my work, and a thank you to those who have reviewed; I appreciate any feedback I can get. - Z.z_

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"Do you two know why you're being punished?" the old woman asked as she curled her white hair, which flowed onto the floor when she sat, and tied it into a bun.

The older of the two boys narrowed his eyes, "Because I spoke the truth."

The old woman sighed. Her long white nails tapped on the wood of the floor. Her skinny legs rested beneath her although it looked as though they would not be able to lift one pound let alone the old woman up.

"He isn't one of us," the oldest said his black eyes darted to his younger cousin then back to the old woman.

"Kakashi is an Uchiha," her dull eyes pierced the hard stare in half and the older boy was forced to look away.

"Just because he stole Obito's eyes does not make him an Uchiha," the boy said with the bite and grief in his young voice obvious.

"Is this what you have been carrying with you, Shisui? Why did you not speak out sooner?" the woman asked. The wrinkles on her arm shifted as she extended her hand in a motion for the boy to speak.

Shisui's head turned to the side, unable to look back at the woman. "Grandmother. I—I" the boy tried to start several times but failed. So he paused, drawing a deep breath. "It's not right! He's no right to blood passage; he's not one of us! Obito should have lived!" The eyes were dark, brooding and in pain. Death was constantly brought up amongst the clan to birth acceptance that life breeds death; but to face it, and so young…

"But Obito is dead and there is no should or could or would… Death is death, second guessing the past will only bring distress. Do you not think that Kakashi carries the same weight as you within his heart?" she asked resting her old, shaking hand back into her lap.

"He's like a board," the boy huffed.

At that the old woman stood, faster than her appearance would give like to and the boy flinched expecting to be hit. "As a ninja, you must see underneath the underneath. In fact, I would suggest you take lessons from Kakashi. The boy has had more trouble than you know. He has no family and has lost a teammate, a friend in battle; if you believe anyone can toss away such feelings then you are sorely mistaken," the woman sagged, as if all the energy had drained from her limbs.

Her crooked back stuck out more as she tried to lean down to look the young boy in the eyes; she got halfway down before she straightened herself. "Stand, both of you."

They both did. The woman looked Shisui in the eyes. "And of your declaration of blood passage… Tell me this; what makes an Uchiha, an Uchiha?"

Shisui stopped in thought and looked down. Then the idea arose to him and he looked at the woman, eyes glinting, "One must be born an Uchiha."

The woman nodded, "Very well." Her hands undid the silencing chakra inside the room then she called out, "Tekka!"

The teenager opened the door and walked into the room, "Ah."

"We are done here, take them to grandfather Atu."

"What?" Shisui cried.

"According to you, I am not an Uchiha. That means that I should send you to one to receive your rebuke."

"Grandmother, you know—"

The old woman silenced him with a cold, distant stare. The child shifted anxiously, never before taking such a look from the normal loving woman.

"What am I, Shisui?" her voice cut the thick silence making all three males in the room shiver.

"A— An Uchiha—"

"I was not born one, nor did I bear one. There is no Uchiha blood in me. So let me ask again, what am I?" The eyes were dead, no longer staring at the boy; but something beyond him. Her back looked far more slumped as if the weight of what she saw, the intangible but real past, rested upon her shoulders.

The boy's cold façade broke, unable to take the harsh treatment of the woman that once baked cookies and read stories for him. He reached out and pulled himself to her stomach. "You're Grammy Saki…"

The woman's long finger nails scratched against the child's skull calming him. She breathed in and sighed. "What does it mean though?" she asked her voice soft and gentle.

"Your family, your Uchiha," the boy said his voice sounded stuffed as he clung to the woman's body.

She carefully pushed the child back and lifted up his chin to look at her. "And now Kakashi is part of our family."

The boy nodded and stepped away; ears reddening as he realized Tekka was smirking at him.

The old woman smiled her toothless grin the boys knew well. "Tekka."

The teenager's mouth twitched but understood what she wanted. He gave her a quick but tight hug. The two younger boys now also sported smirks.

"Now for your punishment, Shisui. At four, before dawn breaks, you will go down to the memorial stone and stand on the west side of it; in the trees. And you will wait there until you understand it's time for you to leave," the woman told him her smile gone and eyes solemn. He would find Kakashi there; he would understand that 'the board', the scarecrow, was not as emotionless as he appeared.

Shisui looked uncertain but nodded.

"Tekka and Shisui, you are dismissed."

Both boys bowed and left, knowing disrupting her was not an option. When they left, she re-did her seals, making sure no one would hear her conversation with the Uchiha heir.

"Do you understand Itachi?" she asked unsure. The boy was a genius, a prodigy, everything she'd ever been told except for one quality was within the child.

"Yes and no, Grandmother Sakura," the boy said his voice sounding like the high ring steel on steel.

The woman gave a nod to the boy, he was still a boy. "Then ask."

"I don't understand what really makes an Uchiha," he stated calmly. His black eyes, keen and piercing analyzed her, waiting for an answer.

"Hmm..." The boy was quick to catch on that she never really told Shisui what was an Uchiha. She had let Shisui find his own truth. The Uchiha clan was one which vied for power and sought destruction, but that wasn't really what the boy was asking. The first answer Shisui gave was correct, on face value. A true Uchiha was an Uchiha by blood, not by marriage. Only by birth, baring, or siring was one a 'true' Uchiha. "For Shisui an Uchiha is family. But the point of my conversation wasn't about what makes an Uchiha."

The boy's brows flew together in thought. His chubby cheeks looked pinched and his tiny stress lines seemed to deepen as he bowed his head letting shadows chase along his cheek bones. The boy shook his head, not finding an answer. "What was the point?"

The woman smiled sadly, "Kakashi is not an Uchiha."

The poor child would probably go insane within his own mind if she kept up with it. But she had to force him to see the world for what it truly was. But she had contradicted her. What she truly wanted was to get him to see the world the way she did and to see peace within it.

"Just as I am not an Uchiha," she murmured quietly to the boy, prodding.

"The point is that it matters not if one is an Uchiha," the boy looked up, questioning, "It matters that one is considered to be family."

She smiled, he was truly brilliant. She carefully held his head in her hands and kissed his forehead. "Now tell me, who is our family."

"The village, for we live as one, we breathe as one, our will of fire is one…" the voice trailed off as he recited the line she had told him thousands of times before. He nodded more assured before he began quoting her words once again. "We cannot be defeated because we cannot be separated. For family is not of blood but of bonds and bonds born of one cannot be separated into two." The words were memorized, but now they held conviction, "As such, Konohagakure shall never fall."

She smiled and patted his cheek. "Do you understand you are not just heir to the Uchiha clan?" she asked.

The boy titled his head to the side and answered, "I am heir to the village."

The woman nodded. If everything continued well then he would one day take over as Hokage; that was certain. She had done all she could, tried all she could to keep it so that the mistakes of the past, of her past, did not affect the new future.

She had tried her hardest; but evil befalls even the best laid plans. Her hunt for Madara Uchiha in her younger years was a folly; her search to return to the present also ended as such. After several years, she returned to the village. There she had stumbled upon the young third and a worrisome Senju.

With her medical skills she was able to open the door way to high councils and was able to identify the needs of balance within the clans, satisfying their wants and quelling what might have become rebellions. She kept her eyes on Danzo and made sure he stayed in a high but unmanned position of power. She married to keep peace, but eventually found small comfort in her home. But knowing the future, to dream of people yet born, drove her to roaming and with her roaming she was able to create more allies for her village, but alas more enemies.

She returned unable to bare; but it mattered not for the man was gone. She hadn't lost any respect; her wandering had brought many men and women to learn the art of medical ninjutsu and serve the village.

But it was upon the death of Obito that she truly began to see her purpose and decided to begin to meddle far more in the affairs of the upcoming generations. The fox had still come though, Minato had still died, and Naruto remained an orphan; but with a better future she promised to the wind, wondering if the world she once knew and the people in it still existed and continued on without her.

She made sure people knew what the boy was. He was a human but a container that had saved the village. For, she claimed, the child would wrestle with the fox and prevent it from escaping. Many offered their homes, but it had been Mikoto, whom had just given birth several months earlier, that took the boy into her household. The Uchiha were brothers to the Senju so the boy's welfare was theirs they claimed.

Her hand brushed at Itachi's hair subconsciously and the child was still, enjoying the small comfort he was not given often due to his shinobi training. The boy at her hand would either destroy what she had tried to create or continue on his current path, creating a better world for all.

She understood that her end was near, and that she would not live to see several more years let alone five, when the massacre would take place. So she'd already taken to writing down things, things that would be given solely to the boy when he reached his fourteenth birthday. Her written works included her memorization of the Bingo book, politics in foreign affairs, enemies and spies that had been in her time. She'd written him her explanation of the past, his future; making sure that he would pay attention to specific people in a specific set of time.

He would do well, she believed. At five he had come to her and talked about truth and peace. It was then she knew there was no one else she could trust it too. It was odd, that in the end the boy was different from the devil she heard Sasuke whisper and whimper in his sleep about.

"Let me think, what would be a good punishment for you?" She smiled looking down at the boy, whom she had held several hours after his birth.

The black eyes stared up at her then they squinted, happy to have the grandmother he knew back.

"Ah, yes… Tomorrow you and your genin team will help me grocery shop," she said tapping at the nose of the boy as his lips twitched. "Perhaps I'll be in the mood to make some cookies too… You're free to go." She waved one hand and patted his head with another.

The boy smiled then gave her a quick hug before he left to find Shisui.

Sakura sighed and rested cross legged back on the floor. Her body creaked; her body was old and decaying away. Years had come harsh, and truth harder; but she had survived and she would continue to survive for a few more years.

She had written everything she deemed a man would need to know, hiding nothing and being straight with facts. But now, now she could take the time to write and be a grandmother. She had hints, tricks and genjutsu's to put to paper.

She rose and her bones made grinding noises. She shouldn't have moved so fast earlier.

She padded to her desk and lit her candle. She picked up the pen and began to write on a fresh piece of paper.


	5. Practice Advice

_Title: Practice Advice  
Genre: Humor and General  
Summary: When some strange man approached her on the soccer field, she knew one thing for certain; there was no way she was going to get kidnapped without a fight._

* * *

There was only one reason Sakura Haruno played soccer. There was only one reason why twenty-five members of the thirty women team played soccer. The reason was that the soccer field was right next to the football field and both sports were in season. The football coach forbade 'onlookers' during practice because they (the girls) were distractions. Hence the girls needed to find a way to watch their favorite men in uniform. The brilliant ones and quick lemmings turned to soccer; the other female population at school had yet to figure it out. If so, there would be several teams of soccer, not just one varsity and one junior varsity.

The majority of the girls were pretty good at multitasking (keeping one eye on the ball and one eye on the boys); others, like Sakura were not so good at it…

"Haruno!" The coach screeched blowing her whistle for the eighteenth time.

The pink-haired daydreamer stumbled from her frozen deer position and looked down at her feet; where a ball of black and white stared up at her.

"You're supposed to kick it!" the coach screamed. The other girls burst into laughter.

A dark rose color formed on the girls cheeks and she awkwardly, without thinking, tried to kick the ball. It bounced several feet then skidded to a stop, a long ways away from the intended target.

The other girls started howling, leaning over in the grass. A few were on the ground hitting it with their fist at the hilarity of the young girl.

The color spread from her cheeks to her ears and the girl gave off a strained laugh.

"Alright," the coach glanced at the other field; the football team was leaving it looked like one for the members was injured, "it's time to head in."

The other girls composed themselves within a couple snorts and headed down to speak with football team.

Haruno sighed and began to follow.

"Not you," the coach reprimanded. "I wouldn't be so upset if I knew you were actually trying. But you're not. You're acting like this entire thing is a joke. The other girls here deserve to have a teammate that has her head in the game and you don't even have that. All that I ask is that you concentrate. We only have two more practices until our first game. I want to know that I can count on you. So please, just give us two hours of your time a day when you're not looking at guys."

The coached sighed and shook her head. "Why don't you practice some more goal kicks? Gather up the soccer balls when you're done. Your mom is working late tonight so it shouldn't be a problem." The coach walked off the field and to the locker rooms, leaving the girl on the field alone.

Everyone seemed to use the girl's mom as an excuse to hold her after school. Just because she was the principle's daughter didn't mean she had no life and had to be the best at everything.

Sakura kicked the ball closest to her and watched it sail into the air. She couldn't help it. When Sasuke played he was just too cool. She kicked at another ball and watched as it too took flight into the air. None of them were close to getting into the goal, but she wasn't really trying.

She went to the next ball and began pedaling it back and forth between her feet as she made her way towards the goal. Now! Her mind cried and her body reacted. The soccer ball flew directly at the goal… then it hit one of its side posts.

Sakura blinked as the ball went flying back at her. It slammed her in the chest and the surprise of the blow knocked her on her butt.

"Are you ok?" a voice called out.

Immediately, Sakura was up on her feet trying to brush herself off and look for the person who'd seen her blunder. The rose color was back, tainting her cheeks. Her green eyes glanced off in the direct of the woods, which framed the school's back border, and then her eyes scanned down the fence line towards the locker rooms. There in between was a tall man at the fence opening.

He was dressed in what looked to be white collar work clothes. He was not a teacher, and obviously not a student. Sakura gulped. He was making his way towards her. Radio shows talking about recent kidnappings rang in her mind. She immediately looked for some kind of weapon to protect herself. She sprinted to the goal where majority of the soccer balls rested.

"Are you ok?" the man asked again.

"I'm fine," she wasn't going to get kidnapped, tomorrow she had a test in math and she had to pass it or her mom would put her in tutoring again.

The man didn't stop his approach. His steps were long and determined. Sakura's hands tightened into fists. She'd give the guy one last chance before she made him stop.

She held up her hand and he paused, "You need to check in with the administrative building to get a visitor's tag."

The man laughed. He looked young, maybe just a couple years older than a senior, but that didn't mean he was a nice guy.

"Look, you seriously need to-"He was close enough that she could see him. He was at least six feet if not taller; his body looked agile and muscular as if he worked out on a regular basis. She definitely wouldn't win in a fist fight, even though she did pack a surprise; she wasn't as flimsy as she looked and her punches had some weight behind them; thanks to her kickboxing lessons. She probably had several seconds to run to the locker room…

She held up her hand. "Just go away, I got it." It was creepy, this had never before happened. Why in all the days did Hinata have to be sick? Predators usually were dissuaded by a number larger than one.

"I just want to help." He sounded earnest, but didn't they all?

"I said stop!" She growled at him and looked him in the eyes; remembering his features for police reference. He was handsome to the point of pretty. His raven locks were pulled back in a low pony-tail and if he had been any other man, he wouldn't have been able to pull it off. His chin was angular in an aristocratic fashion. If he wasn't creepily walking towards her, she'd probably try flirting with him.

He hadn't stop.

He'd had his warning and now she felt threaten, which meant she could use force.

Her foot slammed into the soccer ball sending it straight at the man's face. He caught as if it hadn't been a dangerous projectile.

Sakura let out a roar and began kicking at all the balls in the area. Almost all of them would have been a direct impact if the man hadn't dodged or caught them with a practiced ease.

Sakura was panting for breath as she kicked that last one; he tapped it with the ball in his hands and it flew back at her face. Her hands went up on instinct, guarding her eyes and nose. She caught the ball with her hands and she tossed it away quickly so she wouldn't lose sight of the man.

He was looming over her, less than eighteen inches away and he was smirking.

She tightened her muscles ready to pounce if he so much as made a move to grab her.

"You know, if you'd played with that much determination and focus you'd be the best player on the team," he said. "The coach would probably stop blowing the whistle on you too."

Sakura could already feel her face warming. He'd been watching her the whole time and had probably laughed at all of her blunders just like the team had. She bit her lip, it also meant he'd been watching her; he was a predator.

"So why aren't you concentrating?" He seemed to say to himself more than to her. His eyes flickered to the left side in thought. "Is your boyfriend playing on the football team?"

"N—" She almost said no, but caught herself. If he thought she had a boyfriend then maybe he'd fear the guy would come looking for her. "Yes, he's big and strong, he's one of the line men."

His smirk grew more pronounced and he leaned in closer to her face. "None of those little boys are big and strong. And I highly doubt you have a boyfriend."

She could feel her heart beat throbbing in her neck. This was bad. She was in one of those situations her teacher had warned her about. "Back off," her green eyes narrowed but did not break from looking at him in the eyes, "now."

His head tilted to the side as if trying to decipher what hidden meaning her words had.

She had to be strong, not break eye contact and be watchful of any hand movements. "_ off pervert."

The man's eyes widened with surprise. "You think…" He looked around as if finally realizing he was harassing a high school girl at soccer practice. He raised his hand as if to reach out and touch her. "Look I'm not—"

He moved and that was not a good sign for her. She reacted. She drew back and threw herself forward, tightened her arm and braced her elbow for impacting his stomach. The elbow slammed him in the gut, the breadbasket. He coughed and leaned over.

She knew better then to run now, it was still probable that he would run after her. She twirled and knocked him in the side, near his kidney; then pitched her weight with her knee upon his leg, giving him a dead leg and he was done for… at least for several seconds to make a getaway. He collapsed to the ground.

"Even try to get up and I will mess you up!" She snarled her fist held up behind her head as if to strike him.

He held his hands open as if in surrender while he coughed. "Look—"

He blinked as he realized she'd already taken off. He pulled himself to his feet. "Hey, wait!"

She was already nearing the fence line when she turned to see he was right behind her. She freaked. She aimed for the fence and tried to jump it, but failed. Her right shoe caught on the top part of the railing which sent her pummeling into the ground.

The man sped up and nimbly climbed up the fence and jumped down the other side.

Sakura tried scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain in her arms and foot. A hand pushed her back to the ground and to be still.

"I said wait—" He breathed deeply; still trying to regain his breath.

He wasn't happy, which was very bad sign for her. He would probably torture her for several months instead of mercy killing. Her first escape hadn't gone well; but he was about to learn she would never stop trying to escape.

She turned suddenly trying to jam her elbow into him again. He caught her.

"You're covered in blood," he said in a disgusted tone, pointing out the obvious. Of course, she was covered in blood; she'd just slid across the ground with an extreme amount of force.

He stood and grabbed the back neck of her shirt, and then yanked her up.

"Now look, I'm just here to pick up my brother up from practice."

Likely story, she glared at him.

He put her down and took a step back. "It looked like you could use a couple of pointers. I was just going to give you some advice."

"Your advice is unneeded. I know how to kick a ball," Sakura said and chose the moment to once again to try and escape. As soon as her right foot touched the ground with her weight on it, she gave a yelp then swore.

"My first bit of advice it: don't try to jump a fence two heads taller than you. Or maybe I should just suggest you jump higher. You should join track…"

She swirled around on her left foot. Her green eyes glared at him through narrowed slits.

He was smirking.

"It's your fault." The man may not have been a predator but he was a jerk.

"How so?" he asked. If it had been anyone else she would have thought they were serious. But the smile on his face was teasing her.

"You approached a young girl in a suggestive fashion and continued your approach when she told you to stop," said Sakura. In the court of law, if she'd broken his face, she would have been in the right.

His smirk widened and he leaned in close. The smell of wintergreen invaded Sakura's nostrils. One of his hands brushed her cheek. Then he leaned in closer almost touching her face. She froze like a frog under a flash light. "This is suggestive, sweetheart."

Startled she stepped back onto her right foot. A vibrant string of words flowed from her mouth like a geyser as she tried to get off her foot. Her body swayed tilting off center as her left foot took on her full weight. Before she could fall, he pulled her into him and swooped her up into his arms, bridal style.

"Put me down!" she said kicking her feet.

"I think we need to start over. My name is Itachi. I know your last name is Haruno but what is your first?"

"Put me down and I'll tell you." If the man so much as walked towards the parking lot she'd claw is eyes out. She knew enough to know that her foot was bad. Before her mom became a principle, she'd worked in the medical field and she passed on some knowledge about injuries; such as don't walk on them. But she could hop well enough to get some help. She'd be alright. She didn't want the stranger's help.

"Don't think so; I'm sure the school nurse will know."

That would not be good. The nurses' office was right next to the principal's office and her mother… Her mother would think she skipped out on practice to go out with a guy. Her mom might even go so far as to think the foot injury was due to…

"Put me down now!" She screamed trying to flip around and strike him. They were right next to the locker rooms; why was no one coming to her rescue?

In response to her strike he tossed her up in the air making her scream before he caught her. "You know, I'm just trying to help you out."

"Then put me down!" Sakura screamed right into his ear.

He raised an eyebrow and his dark pupils seemed to burn a hole in her skull. "Fine," he said and dropped her.

One of her hands snatched his arm as she dropped and she quickly tried to straighten her position as to not hurt her injured foot again.

"Sure you don't want me to pick you up again?" he asked as she wobbled on her feet, still clutching his arm.

She turned and glared at him then centered her mass. "Positive," she spat then began to hop on one foot to the main facility.

The man sighed and continued after her.

"I'm fine, don't follow me," she said but he continued his pursuit.

"It would be rude for a gentleman not to assist a lady in need," he simply stated with an innocence she knew he did not posses.

She turned her head over her shoulder to glare at him. "What part of get lost don't you understand?"

The man smiled sweetly, "Lost… I used to be a student here, it's impossible for me to get lost in a facility I am so familiar with."

Only a long list of unstructured curse words flowed from the girl's mouth in reply to his answer. She turned her attention to the door before her and concentrated on her hopping. She didn't know who the man thought he was, but if he didn't stop soon she might end up being charged with aggravated assault. The only good thing about such a matter was that her mother wouldn't mind…

Suddenly he was next to her and opening the door. The surprise of his close presences threw her off balance. She swayed on one leg, a death glare plastered upon her features. "I can open doors myself."

"Hmm… you don't like accepting help that won't do; you're going to have to get used to it," the man said tilting his head to the side with a teasing smile.

"And why would I need to get used to it?" she asked sarcastically.

"Because I plan to get far more familiar with you," his smile stared at her.

That was... horrible… He was a complete jerk, a pretty jerk, a pretty eye-candy jerk but none the less a jerk. No way would she want to get familiar with him. He was being suggestive too. He was a perverted, pretty jerk.

"I don't think so, perv; go find another underage minor to infatuate yourself with," Sakura said then turned and quickly began hopping through the door and down the hall at an outrageous fast pace.

She didn't see how his smile now turned into a knowing smirk. He walked through the door and followed after her. She swore at the distance to the nurse's office; it was on the other side of the building…

"Yo, Sakura," a voice called from inside the cafeteria as she passed through it.

She could only scowl as she hopped by the man who was reading a book (most likely an x-rated book because the cover had been duct-taped over). He hadn't even looked up to see her hobble, or see the man chasing her. "Yo…" she snarled walking past.

The book shifted somewhat, as if not expecting to hear such anger from a student. It seemed for a moment that the teacher was actually thinking of putting the book down. The paged turned.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hatake," Itachi said speeding up his pace to keep up with Sakura.

"Hello, Itachi," the man didn't even take down the book to even look at what the said 'Itachi' was doing inside of the school. "You'll have to thank your cousin for me, when you see him; the books I confiscated from him are still my favorite."

Great. Her teacher was a pervert (she already knew such but to hear him say such things out loud) and he supported whatever activity Itachi was currently doing. She would find no help from him; she continued her journey down another hallway.

"Sakura's a pretty name," Itachi said his voice much closer than she expected. She turned slightly to see that he was fast walking next to her.

She decided to ignore his comment and continue to concentrate on hopping.

It seemed the man liked to be answered, "It would sound better with a different name besides Haruno after it…"

She didn't know what was wrong with the man, but she wanted nothing more to do with him. She turned radically to look at him, not noticing a group of people emerging from the nurse's office. "Leave me alone," she hissed, out of range of the group that was quietly staring at the two of them.

Itachi smirk only grew wider as he leaned in. "That's not nice thing to say to your future husband."

Her mother raised no pansy. Her mother raised a woman who took no crap from men.

Her fist flew at his face, but he expected it and caught it with ease. What he didn't expect was for the leg of her injured foot to rise up and knee him in the groin.

The man bent over, almost on top of her, but Sakura nimbly hopped backwards out of the way.

"If you ever come near me again, I will have a lawsuit against your perverted _," she growled.

"Sakura… Why did you just attack my brother?" one of the boys in the group asked.

Sakura turned to look at the boy she had been crushing on for several years. She'd heard his stories about his brother, his idol. _'Aniki'_ had never done wrong, was the perfect student, already had a profitable company, and was studious and perfect in all social connections.

She blinked at Sasuke; she couldn't even fake a decent blush (although if she had it would have almost been impossible to tell because of the flush color of her skin from the exercise). The person Sasuke believed to be his amazing _aniki_wasn't an amazing person. She felt cold, perhaps for her friend's sake. Her heart was no longer pounding in her chest at the sight of Sasuke as she realized that he looked almost identical to his older brother except not as handsome.

Her eyes narrowed at Sasuke, one of her few best guy friends, "Keep your '_aniki_' away from me," she said snarling with spit-fire sarcasm at the word aniki.

Sasuke and the others around him: Naruto, who was in crutches; Karin; Lee; and Ino; all stared in surprise.

"Sakura, my beautiful blossom of eternal youthfulness, you are injured," Lee said regaining his composer before the others. "Let me carry you to the nurse, for you should get there immediately." Lee stepped forward as if to pick her up.

"Don't," she said with a hiss, "even think about it." She began hopping once again passing by the large group.

Itachi coughed while straightening himself.

"Brother…?" Sasuke questioned.

Itachi took a deep breath and a moment to control himself before he began to follow Sakura; he then stopped and patted the top of his brother's pointy head. "Wait in the car; I'll be out in a couple minutes," he handed his brother the keys and continued into the nurse's office.

He slipped in one of the side bedrooms and the nurse only gave him a nod, knowing who he was. Itachi gave her a smile in return and the older woman blushed.

He turned his attention to the girl sitting on the bed, her back turned to him, talking to the new principle. Hazel eyes rose to meet his own. One of her hands rested on her hip in a demanding authority; the other rested at her side.

Itachi dipped his head politely and walked further into the room.

"So it's all the jerk's fault mom—"Sakura said finishing her tale.

Itachi looped a hand on the girl's thin shoulder. "Yes, I am very sorry Tsunade. If I had explained the reason for my presence to begin with, your precious daughter would not have tried to jump the fence. I only wished to give her some practice advice; I was in varsity soccer when I was here at the school. Again, I apologize; perhaps I could make it up to you and your daughter, may I buy you both dinner tonight? If you enjoy Italian food, I know that _Mama Alina_'s has excellent reviews and is close by. "

Sakura looked up in horror and shook her head frantically to indicate: 'No!' But it was too late. If there was one thing besides alcohol her mother loved it was free food. Not only that, Mama Alina's was a four and a half star restaurant. There was no way her mom would turn it down.

Blonde eye brows raised in surprise and hazel eyes scanned over him, as if critiquing his ability to pay for her exquisite tastes and alcohol. She smiled, he'd met her standard. "How very gracious of you; what time would you like us to meet you there?" she asked.

"What time would be best for you?"

"Hmm, I get off—"

"Mom we can't tonight remember we have that—" Sakura tried to finish but the woman stepped on her daughter's foot to shut her up… the woman had stepped on her sprained foot.

A jumble of words began spewing forth from Sakura's mouth but her mother quickly suffocated the child with a hug. "An early dinner will do us some good, if you don't mind, we can go in about ten. I have to get Sakura some crutches it's just a sprain."

Itachi dipped his head like a polite gentleman, "It would be my honor."

"Thank you," Tsunade said with a smile then she leaned over and began whispering to Sakura, "free food girl, hold your gripes until later."

She drew back from Sakura and continued to smile sweetly at Itachi. "I'll go get those crutches," she said giving her daughter a warning look before she left the room.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sakura growled eyeing the hand on her shoulder that had yet to be removed.

"Taking a pretty girl out to dinner with her mother," he smirked with teasing eyes.

Sakura's hands curled into fists. "Why me?"

He kneeled so he was eye level with her. "Uchiha's don't like being told what to do."

"Excuse me?"

"We've only known each other for about… twenty minutes and within that time frame you've given me orders at least eight times, degraded my honor on several occasions, not to mention you've tried to wound me in multiple instances. I'm not going to go infatuate myself with another minor," he said ruffling her hair, "at least not when I get so much pleasure out of you, my love. Twenty minutes and I already fill invigorated even though I've had a long day of work. I can only imagine what it would be like if I came home to you each night," he said leaning in closer. "Oh, and that, again, was suggestive."

She swiped at him and he leaned away.

"See you soon," he said smirking as the tiny room filled with swear words.

Outside the door his brother was patiently waiting against the wall, his little friends next to him. He'd forgotten about his brother.

"Itachi, what did you say to Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi took a breath; any words he shared with Sasuke would spread like a wave across his close knit family. For once it would be nice to be able to pursue whoever he chose without out someone trying to 'aid' him.

"You shouldn't worry about what I say Sasuke," Itachi replied holding out his hand, "Keys."

Sasuke dropped them into the outreaching fingers. Confusion was clear in his eyes.

"Good, now, Naruto do you think your dad would mind giving Sasuke a lift home?" his date wouldn't be any fun if he had a tag-a -long.

"Of course not," Naruto shrugged, "but what did you say to Sakura to make her act so weird. Usually she gets all giggly and stuff around Sasuke."

Itachi's little brother socked his best friend in the shoulder. "Shut it dope."

How interesting, was his little brother really interested in the girl and the girl interested in his brother?

"It was odd… I've never even heard Sakura yell swear like that…" his brother led on.

"Pfft," Naruto laughed, "that just shows you've never been to her house."

It was too bad his little brother had no claim on her. Itachi felt touched, the girl he'd spoken with undoubtedly was her 'true form', which was way better than some giggling piece of trash. His brother was going to have to get over her.

The door to the room opened and Tsunade stepped out followed by the pink-haired girl in crutches.

"We match Sakura!" Naruto laughed.

Sakura didn't; she instead fixed Itachi with death glare. "So it seems Naruto."

"Ready ma'am?" Itachi asked his hand ushering to the door that led to the hallway.

"Almost," Tsunade smiled, "Thank you again for taking us to dinner." She poked Sakura on the arm.

"Yes, _thank you_ for spraining my ankle," Sakura said with a fake smile that Sai could learn from. Her mom gave her a warning look. "Thanks," Sakura huffed, "for dinner."

Itachi held open the door and Tsunade walked through. "Like I said, I apologize for the misunderstanding. I hope we can get on better terms," he said.

"Fat chance," Sakura muttered for everyone to hear but her mother. Her crutches thumped against the floor as she made her way through the door.

Itachi put his hand on her back as if to support her. Immediately she reacted, turning and swinging one of the crutches at him as if to hit him. He dodged it easily and grabbed the metal object. If his brother liked her perhaps it was time he took his claim.

He pulled the object towards him and kissed the back of her hand which rested upon the handle. "I'm pleased to see you're excited about our date," he smirked.

Sakura tried to pick up the other crutch to hit him. "It's not a—"

Her mother grabbed her by the back of the collar, picking the small teenager off the ground. "You still need to get out of those gym clothes, come on."

Itachi gave a backward glance at his shocked brother. "Have fun _little_ brother," Itachi teased.

The shock quickly turned to a scowl.

With that Itachi turned and left, looking forward to having dinner with the hot-tempered girl.

_The point of this story you ask? Well, it's to explain to the poor soccer balls why they were not picked up after practice._

* * *

_A/n: I poke a lot of fun at things; but keep in mind in reality (this is an AU fic of reality) kidnapping is not a laughing matter, majority of those taken and not let loose within 24 hours end up dead; majority of those kidnapped don't get released more are never seen again. (Which is why Sakura does not get kidnapped, it's not a funny matter.)_

_For my female readers: if a man approaches you (in a parking lot, at night, when you're alone) go back into a store or get to a well-populated place and ask for an escort or call someone you know._

_Your elbow is also one of the strongest parts of your body; use it._

_It's better to be safe then end up being taken, your body never found unless brutalized._

_With gun holds, don't run in a straight line, run in a zigzag random pattern it makes it harder for them to shoot you._

_Be aware of your surroundings and try not to get into the situation to begin with._

_Also on a side note: with muggings don't hand them your wallet, throw it away from you and run in the opposite direction, this gives you a chance to run away._

_Hope these were some useful tips._

_Thank you for taking the time to read my story, I hope you enjoyed._

_Reviews are always appreciated._

_Z.z_


	6. Train

_Title: Train  
Genre: Romance and Friendship  
Summary: Valentine's Day Special_

A/n: Now, ahem… this could be seen as an ItachixSakuraxShisui fiction, but take what you want from the piece. I hope you enjoy. Thank you for taking the time to read another one of my works and a special thank you to those who have taken the time to review. –Z.z

* * *

The day was the worst day of her life, all because of her own stupidity.

She'd become greedy, giddy and happy—like any girl with the upcoming event of Valentine's Day—but she should have known. Middle school had been awkward once she'd brought it up; it had taken a year to gain his trust back. After seven years of hiding her feelings and being 'buddies', she'd tried again; yesterday. Now, everything she'd built with him was burning down. She'd taken off hoping that some structure would be left to start again.

It wasn't like she'd grabbed dozens of roses and threw them in his face. But offering him one of two tickets for a train ride was doing just that. He'd given her one of his 'What-the-heck-is-Naruto-doing?' stares. She'd tried to laugh it off; but she knew it was already too late. Being near him had been enough, why had she tried to take more than she was allowed?

So now she was stuck on the train by herself.

She blinked back tears because everything had added up. With her arrival on the train and yesterday's broken heart she was a mess and she knew it. On her way to the station from her college dorm someone had driven too close to the sidewalk and over flooded gutters, which had caused a tidal wave to condemn her, leaving her completely drenched.

But the world hadn't had enough laughter it seemed.

She had to combat crowds of umbrella couples—who were smooching and licking—while she was trying to reach the train station. During the fight she had lost her phone, a present for her birthday from _him_. After a fifteen minutes of a frantic 'let-me-die-now' search; she had to catch her train or her one-hundred-and-fifty-dollar, two tickets of failure, would go to waste. It wasn't like she would have found it, more people had been arriving and the crowd would have just gotten worse.

The machine wouldn't read the bar code on either of her dripping wet tickets, because the soggy ticket would not go into the machine and after three-minutes of trying she had actually broken into tears. The guard had pitied her and let her through, carefully ripping one of the two tickets perforated end so it wouldn't destroy the entire ticket.

Then on the search for an empty compartment, a tall man had backed out of a door way and jammed his elbow in her eye.

Yesterday had been the worst day of her life and today had raised the competition to a new bar.

She rested her head against the cold window sill. She sighed in relief as the coldness soothed the pain. Her eyes stared out the window at the dreary blur of grey water and brown, barren trees.

Maybe the trip would do her some good. She'd just finished a long session of tests and had a couple days off, which the teachers would use for grading those tests. Her first thought had been that a celebration was necessary, and then when she realized that Valentine's Day and the day after were off, she'd begun to plan everything in.

In the end, her heart had hammered and as a result her logic had disappeared… She was back to the topic of him, Sasuke Uchiha. She could relax if she forgot the reason why she was going to begin with, but that idea was farfetched. She wasn't going to have a good time.

The blurry world vanished as she shut her eyes. Her free hand twirled her pink hair. Maybe it would all disappear. When she got back, maybe the incident would drop and be forgotten. She sniffed and reached up to rub her eyes.

Her nerves rang alarm bells at the pain and she swore. The day couldn't get any worse.

Her eyes opened in alarm at her thoughts. She reached out her hand to knock on wood, but she was too late.

A rap sounded at her compartment door then it slid open. The man in the door way took in the area before giving a nod.

"Sakura," his face remained almost expressionless except for the squint of his eyes. He had recognized her in her pink-haired state; why did the world hate her?

"Itachi," Sakura smiled and nodded in return. Inside she was screaming all the swear words she knew. How was she supposed to pull off the whole 'trip-thing was a joke' if Itachi told his brother he'd seen her on the train?

"May I?" His pale, piano fingers motioned to the seat across from her. "My cousin has become a tad bit too enthusiastic with his female companion," Itachi sighed.

Her mind screamed: 'No! The compartment is full!' But she was raised a better woman than that.  
"Of course, go ahead take a seat."

Also, Itachi would probably wait outside to make sure she was telling the truth… That was just the kind of person he was.

How had he found her in the first place? Out of all the trains and compartments he had to open her door.

"What happened to your eye?"

Immediately he began prodding, his job as a lawyer suited him too well. It had been a long time since she'd seen her friend's brother. Their last eye contact had been at Sasuke's summer party and their last conversation Sasuke's birthday party.

The man before her was known for tearing people to shreds on the witness stand for his profession and teasing people to tears as a hobby. She still remembered leaving the Uchiha household in sobs after Itachi's interrogative and sadistic questioning and Shisui's obnoxious, horrendous, evil, unabashed perspective of her 'only slightly female body'…

Once she thought about it, it really had been Shisui, but Itachi had to take some credit for starting the conversation. Of course, both boys were forced to apologize, buy her chocolate and take her to a movie; which had turned out to be a good action packed flic. Through the movie night out they'd also become friends. And the way things turned out, there was no way she was only a 'slightly female body' now. But the meaning of the story was, there was no way she going to allow him to make a 'short' joke on her…

"I got into a fight," nonchalant and cool.

The man raised an eyebrow just like Sasuke had when she'd asked him to come with her. "Really?"

"Yeah," She twitched her lips and re-focused her gaze out the window. The coolness from the sill soothed the burning sensation.

She heard him shift and she turned to look. Her head was caught between his palms; and his pale, smooth, aristocratic complexion was only inches away from her nose. His eyes narrowed as if analyzing the inside of her brain. One of his hands carefully brushed over the bruising area below her eyebrow. She flinched.

"Coloration is setting in and the swelling hasn't stopped. It happened recently. A fight near or on the train would have drawn a crowd and it is unlikely Shisui or I would have overlooked such racket. You weren't in a fight." He coal eyes softened. "You can tell me."

She'd rather not. It wasn't like it was any concern of his anyways. Pulling her head out of his hands, she laughed, "Don't worry about it."

"Sakura..."

She knew the tone; he was upset now and he probably thought it was some domestic abuse case because she was in the compartment alone.

"I ran into some guy's elbow," Sakura scratched the back of her head, "Doesn't quite make a good story though, huh?"

Itachi's head tilted to the side as if pondering the truth of her story.

"Why don't you have an ice pack?"

"I'm fine, don't need one," she brushed him off. She planned on asking for one when she got to the mountain village, she had debated going to find one on the train, but for all she knew something like a meteor would strike her down.

"As a medical student you should know better."

She was beginning to think she liked his sadistic side more than his 'mama-bird' one. She got nagged enough at home.

"Fine," she picked up her stuff with a crisp smile, "I'll go get one." Maybe she would find a new compartment too.

Immediately his hand pushed her down. "I'll get it."

"I said—," Sakura tried to stand only to have him lean in close.

"I got it," his eyes glinted and there was no disputing what was to be done. There was no wonder the jury bought almost everything he said. "Besides," he poked her forehead, "People would think I did that to you if they found out I was the only other person in this compartment."

He was going back into his sadistic form. Hopefully, he would stay there.

Within one stride he was out the door.

It would have taken her at least two and a half; she hated being short…

She shivered and set her bag back on the ground. Several hours with Itachi wasn't sounding too pleasant and on top of that she was going to have to persuade him to not mention a word of it to his brother. The last time she tried to persuade him into giving up dango she'd ended up locked outside on the porch of the Uchihas' house. Maybe if she promised to buy him something sweet at the mountain village—if he was planning to stop there—he would agree to not say anything.

He'd probably wring her of all the money she had. She smacked herself in the forehead; she should've just stayed at home.

"Are you inflicting injuries on yourself?"

Sakura jumped up then fell back down as her foot got tangled in her bag. Before her head hit the wall, Itachi grabbed her hand and pulled her sideways toward the door.

He pushed her gently into the seat. "There's no reason for you to be harming your body. Sakura, if you need help, you need to let someone know. Self-harm is not something to take lightly; if you become addicted then you need to see a specialist. One of my close friends is a psychologist and I can arrange a meeting for you. But if you are doing such things to seek attention, I would suggest a Karaoke bar—"

Sakura blinked and stared up into the onyx, dead serious eyes. It was would have been funny if he didn't actually look worried.

"Itachi," she reached out and touched his shoulder, "I am fine."

His eyes narrowed, "No, you are not. You have a swelling, black eye and when I walked into the room you were banging yourself on the head. Not only that you are wet," he wiped his hand, which had grabbed her, on his jeans. "Don't you have an umbrella or is this another way you are trying to inflict pain upon your body? Do you believe you've done something wrong and deserve to be punished?"

No, but the world seemed to think she did… Crap, she just hesitated in answering him.

"Sakura," he squatted before her, "Whatever you did is in the past, there's no need for you to keep putting it at the front of your mind. But if you feel the need to apologize to someone, just apologize."

"That's not it—"

"Sakura you're in denial—"

"Itachi, listen to me! I'm not in denial and I'm not trying to inflict injuries upon myself. I was slamming my head because I was frustrated, I have a black eye because some stupid, tall, idiot backed into me; and I'm wet because some jerk intentionally drove fast over a puddle to soak me."

"Hmm…"

He didn't believe her. She was going to be stuck with mama-bird mode for the whole trip. She was just one lucky girl, huh? She knew thousands of high school, college, and middle-aged women would love to be the sole attention of the handsome, pale, tall man before her; too bad she didn't find him appealing…

Ok, maybe just a little bit. But it was only because he resembled Sasuke. There she was again… back to him. What a vicious circle.

"So…" He trailed off, and then refocused his attention on her. "Where do you plan on going?" The coal eyes pierced her skull; as if he thought she was planning on committing suicide once she got there.

"The village on the foothills," Sakura opened her bag and pulled out the brochure she'd taken from a flyer tray at school. "Enjoy tea, spices and excellent food in a little village away from the city. Relax in this small, humble town and take your time to see the waterfalls and sights," she read. She noticed the way his eyes brows touched at the word waterfall. Did he think she was going to jump?

"Of course, I only plan to stay for a couple hours," she looked out the window, "so food and tea only." She turned back and smiled at him, "I have to catch the midnight train back." A half lie, she was going to see a waterfall; but it was next to a tiny restaurant.

"Alone?"

"Huh?"

"You plan on travelling at night by yourself?"

"Well… Yeah." Sasuke had ditched her; did he think she was now going to pick up some guy in the village?

"Do I need to tell you how many sexual predators there are in this world?"

That's where he was going… Sakura rolled her eyes, "I got mace."

"You'll need a lot more than mace to stop someone who really wants to get you."

She couldn't believe him. "So you want me to take the next train back? I didn't waste one hundred fifty dollars for a sightseeing train trip."

"One hundred fifty dollars?"

Sakura shut her mouth. This wasn't happening. She hadn't decided what bargaining chip she was going to use. She watched the trees fly by. "Yeah, my round trip ticket was bought off some guy outside the train station."

"They hadn't sold out."

"I bought it anyways."

"Sakura—"

Why was he using that tone with her? Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Why out of all the people in the world—

"So the person who has the other ticket gave you the black eye," his coal eyes narrowed in thought, "You don't deserve to be abused. I hope you are out of the relationship. If not, you should—"

"Would you stop with my eye!" she cut him off. Was it really that bad?

"Sakura you do not need to defend whoever hit you."

"The guy backed into me!"

"You have two tickets!"

Sakura ripped open her bag and threw both wet tickets in his lap; only one was missing its perforated end. "I have both tickets ok." Would he just shut up?

"Why would you buy two tickets?"

Itachi was supposed to be a quiet, smirking know-it-all not a curious monkey who pounced on unsuspecting pink-haired prey. At least she now knew how he became a know-it-all; he asked a never ending series of questions and assumed answers. It was no wonder Sasuke remained oblivious to the differences between men and women till he was thirteen. Itachi had questioned out his parents.

"I don't want to talk about it," the water blurry world was starting to become whiter as they traveled to higher elevation, although the large flakes were not sticking.

"Sakura—"

She didn't need to be reminded of her failure. But by not answering, he was probably going to rat her out to Sasuke. She could only play her cards now. Maybe she had a good hand. She turned and faced him.

"I bought the tickets for another person and myself for Valentine's day. It was a last minute thing so I couldn't refund them when the other person said no. It would have been a waste of money if I decided not to go… So on my way here I got drenched when some jerk, in a huge truck, decided they wanted some poor girl to suffer. Then as I got near the train station I had to make my way through slobbering couples and got bumped. When I got to the station and wanted to check the time, I realized I dropped my cellphone. I spent at least twenty minutes trying to find it before I thought I was going to miss my train. I couldn't waste so much money. My ticket… tickets were too wet to read so a guard finally had to check me in. Then while I was trying to find a compartment someone jammed me in the eye." She was almost a blubbering mess. She needed to reign in her emotions. "That's what happened, alright. Just, don't tell anyone ok?"

His hand brushed the top of her head like she was some domesticated animal. "No one?"

She glanced up. He was smirking. With the threat of a masochist gone he was back to his original sadistic self. It was final. The world hated her.

"Please Itachi," If Sasuke could win his brother over with being cute so could she.

"Hmm. What should I get in return for keeping a secret?" He eyes were alight with a mischievous gleam, which she knew would only result in disaster for her.

"Come on Itachi…"

"Well," Itachi leaned in close, "how about you join me for Valentine's day?"

Sakura blushed. That was rather blunt. He was handsome but what the heck was he saying? Surely someone like him could get a model.

"Shisui wants me to be his wing man; which I have no desire or inclination to do. You'd make a perfect excuse."

So the guy was just using her. She bit her own tongue. It figured; he wasn't the type of person who would let an opportunity slip by. In fact, that was probably his plan to begin with; she'd just fallen right into his grasp. At least he'd let her in on his scheme, making sure she didn't have long to mistake his meaning.

"What were your plans with the ambiguous other party?" He never missed anything, did he?

He'd caught on to her no named stranger. She'd wanted to visit a well-reviewed, but cheap restaurant near a waterfall; it was a hike though and Itachi would just scoff that it was a 'petty attempt at a romantic getaway.' She turned her head to look outside. The snow was starting to cover the landscape. A hike while drenched was an idiotic idea anyways. "Drink some tea." He should be happy with her partial truths.

Movement caught her attention and she watched Itachi press the side of his head against the glass while looking at her.

"You do realize there are thousands of germs on this window," Itachi smiled, "And every time you avoid my questions with lies you look out the window and rest your head against the seal where thousands of children have probably smeared their—"

Sakura bolted up and her green eyes narrowed.

Itachi smirked then stretched back into his seat, "So what was your plan?"

"Do I have to say?" What importance could it possibly have for him except getting more dirt on her?

"I need to give Shisui a good excuse."

Sakura sighed; he wasn't going to let up and he knew how to read her. "There's a restaurant up in the mountains near a waterfall I wanted to eat at." There wouldn't be much time to spend there before she would need to hustle back down.

"Then we'll go see that then." Itachi nodded. "Here," he handed back her tickets and the icepack.

A quiet crash and bang rang out through the compartment; which was soon followed by others, getting louder and closer.

Their door flew open to reveal a curly, black head that had been spiked with gel. "Itachi, I found you!" The man gasped between breaths. His eyes caught sight of pink and he turned to greet Sakura.

"I thought my baby cousin had been snatched by a boogieman." He returned his gaze back to his cousin. "It's ok my Ity; I am here to protect you."

Itachi leaned away from the inching closer man, but he already knew that what was going to happen, would happen. The man collapsed on Itachi gripping him in a tight hug, "I was so worried."

Itachi stared down at the spiky head, his eyebrow twitching but his stare unsurprised. "You have three seconds to let me go, Shisui."

Sakura laughed, the two hadn't changed at all.

"Or else?" the man asked.

"Two-one-"

Shisui let go and sat down backwards next to Sakura on the bench. He scooted closer then wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "How are you, darling?" He winked.

She was about to shove a retort down his throat when Itachi grabbed Shisui's arm, dividing Sakura's view of Shisui's face.

"Don't bother my Valentine's day date with your petty tomfoolery," his face was only an inch from Shisui's.

The man smiled as if challenged. "Tomfoolery?" He directed his attention at Sakura. "You really want an old fogy like him? You could have this hunky piece of meat right here."

Sakura snickered but internally Shisui had raised a question that needed to be answered. Which Uchiha was better looking? Did she like the well-built, muscular body of Shisui; which was almost the same as Sasuke's or Itachi's thin long elegant limbs built for agility… The elegance was definitely a nice feature.

Itachi returned the smile, except his reeked of vengeance. "I'll—"

Itachi was thrown against the opposite wall by Shisui as the man noticed something about Sakura. Immediately the reek of hair gel consumed Sakura's nose as Shisui inspected her face. His right hand had a firm grasp on her chin and his left held away the ice pack.

"What the _ is wrong with you, Itachi?" the man snarled glaring at his younger cousin. Shisui tugged the girl into his chest and hugged her.

As Sakura gasped for breath, Itachi's eyes narrowed, "I got her the icepack; she said someone backed an elbow into her eye. And you're suffocating her."

Shisui let go and grabbed her face once more. "Is that the truth? Did Itachi hit you? Did you get into a fight?"

"Yes, Itachi—" Sakura started.

"Yes Itachi hit you!" The black eyes flickered with dark red and his eyes looked at Itachi.

"No!" Sakura quickly tried to correct the older cousin's assumption. "Yes, Itachi is telling the truth."

Shisui seemed to analyze his cousin's body language before he sat back down. His eyes went back to Sakura, "Are you ok?"

Sakura gave a tired, irritated, 'don't-bother-me-again-Naruto' laugh. "I'm fine."

"You know your wet, right?" the man began brushing at the arm that had been on the back of the seat.

Sakura wanted to face palm but knew it would only start a string of questions just like Itachi. What was with Uchihas? She decided to sigh, "Yes, I know."

The lips of the older man moved slightly before he stretched back into the seat and into her. He rested his cheek upon her shoulder. "So, where are you two going?"

Itachi's hand appeared to convulse until he tightened it into a fist. "A restaurant near a waterfall."

"Awww. How cute, a romantic getaway Ity?" Shisui said tightening his arm around Sakura.

"A getaway from you," Itachi said with a fake grin. "And as you know three's a –"

The word 'crowd' never left Itachi's mouth or it went unheard over Shisui's loud voice proclaiming, "Three's a wonderful idea!"

Shisui flew to Itachi's seat and looped an arm around his younger cousin's shoulders. "Well Sakura? Two's better than one. Just think, a lucky girl like you gets two dates for Valentine's day."

Sakura could only laugh at the weird face Itachi was making.

"That's a yes my dear, sweet, baby Ity," Shisui smiled pinching Itachi's cheeks before trying to jump back onto Sakura's seat.

Itachi beat him to it, it being the door. Itachi's fist slammed Shisui against the chest and into the compartment's door. As the older man tried to regain his composer Itachi slipped in beside Sakura.

Shisui's black eyes narrowed into a glare and he stuck out his tongue, before taking the seat across from them. Then he smiled raising his phone, "You two look cute!"

Sakura tried to move her hand but it was too late. Shisui winked, "Don't worry, it will go to my personal collection."

"Sure…" Itachi's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I assume the upcoming village is where we are getting off at?" Shisui asked, changing the subject while avoiding Itachi's stare by looking at a dry flyer he appeared to pull out of thin air.

"Yep," Sakura replied with a smile. "A restaurant there is supposed to be really good."

"I'm sure anything tastes good with a pretty girl like you sitting across from me," Shisui said with a smile.

It was amazing how times changed. Of course, Sakura knew not to buy the playboy's compliments. She just laughed them off.

"I'm sure nothing is going to taste good with someone like you in our presence, Shisui," Itachi said, his eyes narrowing in a warning.

"That hurts Ity," Shisui whimpered, holding his hand over his chest.

"Why do you think I said it," Itachi deadpanned with a frown.

Sakura could only laugh at the two. At least she wouldn't be alone, perhaps it was good Sasuke decided not to come. He probably would have looked out the window the entire time, sighing and 'hnning.'

The train came to a slow and the three companions made their way outside into the village's frosty air. Immediately Sakura realized that getting soaked before going into higher altitude was not a good idea, the several hour train ride hadn't really dried her. With a sigh, Sakura crossed her arms and hugged herself tight trying to keep warm. It was good they were going to be hiking to the restaurant; the activity would warm her up.

A heavy object rested upon her shoulders and Sakura looked up. Itachi pulled his jacket around her.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yes," she huddled into it, "Thanks."

"Dang it Itachi; you're making me look like a jerk. Sakura do you want my coat too?" Shisui whined.

"No, I'm fine…" She looked at Itachi, he was wearing a loose black t-shirt; and the skin on his arms looked bumpy. "Look, Itachi; you're cold, I don't need the jacket its fine." She started to take it off, hoping he would stop and suggest that it she could keep it; it was cold out.

Instead he swept in next to her, crouching under one of her arms. "Do you mind sharing?" he asked, looping the hand next to her around her waist.

His presence was warm, very warm; of course she wouldn't mind sharing. "Umm," her face heated up, "No, sharing's good."

Soon another warm presence was to her left, opening her arms to the cold. Shisui huddled, like duckling under a mama bird's wing. "I felt left out," Shisui said in a whimpering tone. He then pulled out his phone and crushed his head next to Sakura's, "Smile!"

Shisui grin was from ear to ear, Sakura looked confused and Itachi emotionless as the flash captured their faces. After Itachi tried to get a glare off but couldn't over Sakura's body, so instead he settled for pinching Shisui with the hand that was around Sakura's waist.

"Sakuurrraaa! Ity pinched me!" the older man almost sounded like he was going to break into tears.

The people around them gave the three weird looks and moved to the other side of the road.

"He pinched me again Saki!" By the way Shisui was acting, people would have thought he was a squealing girl, not even close to the police officer that he truly was.

"Alright I'm done you two," Sakura slipped out from the jacket. "I can't even close the jacket."

Itachi slugged Shisui in the stomach as Sakura's back was facing them.

"Sakuuuurrrrrrraaaaa!" Shisui's voice screeched through several octaves, "He hit me!"

"I don't care," Sakura didn't even turn around.

Itachi gave a smirk and hit Shisui again; only this time Shisui slugged him back.

By now people were standing and staring at them.

Sakura turned and saw that their playful banter was getting rough. "Both of you on either side of me, right now; you're grown men for crying out loud; control yourselves," Sakura scolded, her eyes narrowed; she was going to have treat them like Naruto and Sasuke. "I won't take you anywhere with me again."

Immediately both were at her side once more. One acting coy and sweet, the other close and passive; it _was_just like Naruto and Sasuke.

They'd already attracted attention though, now people on the street were whispering and muttering; they probably thought that she had been hit by one of them.

Sakura eyes looked at one of the clothing store windows as Shisui tried once more to douse her in compliments. She pushed him out of the way and headed into the store. She'd buy herself a coat. Problem solved.

"Stay," she commanded both of the boys before walking in.

She snatched up the first sweatshirt in the store and checked the price. Determining it was decent, she bought it.

She stomped back out the door. Snapping the tags off the coat, she put it on. Her eyes scanned the streets then they rested upon the two men she'd come with.

Shisui was literally leaning sideways and tilting his head up so he was directly in Itachi's face. What he was saying was unheard from her distance it was obvious to Sakura that Itachi was offended. Itachi's thin mouth was clamped shut and his dark eyebrows were almost touching. Shisui on the other hand was smiling in a way that almost looked perverted.

As she walked closer she heard the end of the conversation. "He deserves to be tortured," Shisui said but then his eyes caught a glimpse of Sakura and he turned to her waving his hand.

"We waited like good kids," Shisui chimed like an innocent child.

Itachi only gave a snort and muttered, "Idiot," under his breath.

It was going to be a long day that was for sure.

The hike turned out to be a climb as they made their way across the snow dusted landscape and there was no wonder as to why the train was empty. Couples would have preferred a warmer place, a movie, even a video conference within their cozy homes. But Sakura was determined, even though by the end they all had frozen limbs and ragged breaths.

Sakura heard the roar of water first and quickened her pace, and then before her was a sight she could only describe as being beautiful. A massive waterfall appeared to have smoke billowing up at the bottom. The waterfall fed into what first appeared to be a lake but upon further inspection was just a large pool with a gangly river going off to one side. Both waters held broken trees, which had been lapped by water for so long that they were smooth. Majority of the land surrounding the immediate area of the waterfall was made of large boulders. The wet boulders gleamed off of the noon sunlight. To the left of the waterfall, on a hill that cut off steeply on one side, was what appeared to be a cottage, looking very humble in comparison to the roaring beast beside it.

Sakura let out a laugh of joy and then rushed forward indecisive. There were trails off to the group's left and right dusted with almost-spring snow. There were no tracks of man, just imprints of small critters perhaps a dog, cat and finches.

The trails went left and right splitting multiple times going into many directions, some around the pool to the base of the waterfall, others left to the cottage, and still some to the right, following the gangly river and over into a forest of barren trees.

"Wow," Shisui said in agreement to his cousin's silence.

"Think we could explore some trails before we eat?" Sakura asked.

It was a glorious landscape, not marred or well-travelled by civilization. It was away from the chaos world of the city, the court room, the police station, and university.

They became children once again, seeking adventure only imagination and a new world could bring. They made their way around the pool and shed their coats before they scampered up rocks to the waterfall. Their skin began to glisten the closer they got, until the water began dropping off of them and their clothes. They were drenched by the time they got as close as they could to the falls. But they could only stand at the edge of the rock formation, the falls several feet behind them and just a trickled compared what it appeared as they climbed. They stood at the top laughing with exhilaration and shaking their heads at each other hoping to get each other wetter.

"Hold still!" demanded Shisui as Sakura and Itachi stood facing him.

Shisui held out his phone and snapped a photo of the drenched pink-haired and long dark-haired man. The man's arm was looped over her shoulders. From the smirk and the giggling, one would have thought they were a happy couple.

"Alright, let me get you two!" Sakura yelled while laughing so everyone would hear her over the roar of the falls. She made her way down carefully, walking from rock to rock.

Shisui handed over the phone to Sakura and both males posed back to back, eyes closed, faces up where the water spread across them. They looked like models from some odd fairy magazine, but it was obvious from the smirks spreading across both of their faces they'd posed in such a way many times before.

"Sakura's and my turn!" Shisui called out, giving Itachi a light shove on the back to go take the phone.

As soon as Sakura got up, Shisui took the petite woman by the waist and rested his chin on her shoulder like a satisfied cat.

With only one flash of light, Itachi put down the phone, and then Sakura wacked Shisui on the head; which almost sent both of them into the pooling water several feet below them.

"Let's go, we're too wet already," Shisui whined, dodging the glare from his cousin.

While they slowly made their way back, Sakura noticed a grunt from Shisui which was caused by a hit from Itachi, if Sakura understood the younger's eyebrow twitching.

But when they were once again on the trail, with their coats to warm them, they were off again. They tramped through the trees, took more pictures, and even fought with driftwood swords from the river. They would have continued if not for their stomachs' protest and freezing feet.

So they made their way to what they thought was a small cottage, but when they got closer it was obviously not small. It was an inn, which had a second story that was built out of the side of the hill.

They opened the door and walked inside. The top floor was only a perimeter and leaning over the banisters they could see the restaurant below.

"Welcome," a woman greeted them walking up the staircase. "We weren't expecting another bus for fifteen minutes."

"A bus?" Shisui questioned.

The woman's round face froze for a second before she burst out laughing. "You guys walked all the way here?" she held her side as she looked them over. "Well then, come, come let's get you warmed up. Follow me please; I'll get you a table. "

"There was a bus?" Shisui looked down at Sakura, who was busy inspecting the walls and decoration.

She turned a blush on her cheeks, "well the hike was nice."

Shisui sighed, "There was a bus…"

"Here you go," the woman said, seating them in a corner booth in the almost crowded room. The woman then leaned in close to Sakura. "Are you ok, sweetie?"

"Huh?"

"Your eye…" the woman trailed off looking at Sakura in concern.

Sakura reached up to touch it then winced. "I ran into someone's elbow."

The woman then laughed, "You had me worried for a second. Have a seat, please, I'll be back in a moment with silverware and water." The waitress sat down the menus and walked off, leaving the three alone. Sakura slipped into on the of the booth sides first then the boys sat opposite.

Sakura peeked at the menu then smiled, grateful the prices were still cheap. They ordered and ate their way through delicious soups and pastas before they took their leave, each paying for their own dish; although Itachi tried to pay for Sakura's and got slammed in the stomach by the unhappy woman.

They looked out at the night sky and sat outside of the inn under the covered porch waiting for the bus. Their eyes examined the snowfall, watching the flakes gracefully make their way to the ground.

"Thanks for coming with me," Sakura told them.

"It was our pleasure Sakura; I couldn't imagine a better way to spend Valentine's day." Shisui sat between Sakura and Itachi raising up his arms up in a yawn, dropping them down and then grabbing them by the shoulders squeezing the two into him, "Just think, a lucky man like me had two beautiful women to spend it with. "

Shisui was promptly slammed off the bench and Itachi scooted over closer to Sakura.

"Heyyyy!" Shisui whined, "I wasn't talking about you, Ity; I was talking about the waitress…. Sheesh. You're not what I would call beautiful; you're more on the 'pretty' scale."

Shisui was promptly kicked in the gut as Sakura laughed.

The crunch of gravel alerted the three to the bus arriving. And their heads turned. The grey paint appeared to be peeling and the engine made a backfire but it made it up the first hill and into sight. The bus came to a stop though, not going up to the inn.

"That's our ride," Shisui said with a laugh as he watched other guests start walking down the path.

Itachi stretched then stood, offering a hand to Sakura. She took it and let him pull her up.

"We should hang out more often; I had a lot of fun… Thanks guys," she said as they started walking. She turned her head away from them, covering her rising blush.

"We should!" Shisui looped both arms around Sakura's neck tugging her into his chest as he continued to walk.

"On second thought…"

Immediately Shisui let go. "But-t-t, bu-t-t-t I promise I'll be good," he sniffed.

Itachi just gave a sigh as he patted Sakura on the head. "If you let us know when you work and when you attend classes, we can try to move our schedules so we can be free."

"You guys don't have to do that," she said as they walked up the bus stairs.

Itachi slid into the first open seat, Sakura following behind, and Shisui squeezing them in.

"Nonsense Sakura, I found our time very enjoyable," Itachi gave her a rare smile as he leaned in and kissed her on the top of her head, which caused her to turn beet red. "Whatever man stood you up doesn't deserve you."

Sakura blinked, realizing she had forgotten all about Sasuke. At first she felt the need to be sick to her stomach, but nothing came. There was no guilt; there was no worry, for the first time she wasn't preoccupied with what Sasuke thought. She no longer cared. For a second, she felt stiff as though some sort of purpose escaped her and then she burst out laughing.

"Hmm?" Shisui asked leaning in too close for anybody's comfort. "Some guy stood you up?"

Sakura gasped and then hit Itachi, "You weren't supposed to say anything that was the deal!"

Itachi blinked before smirking, "I believe you were supposed to be _my_ date; not both Shisui's and mine."

"You forced a poor girl on a date with you, that's low Itachi," Shisui teased.

"You've done it before, at least I didn't hand cuff her."

"She asked to be cuffed."

"Is that why she demanded that she hadn't been given Miranda Rights and you should be relieved of your office."

"Stop making me look like a bad guy," Shisui whined.

Sakura laughed, "I don't want to know."

The bus lurched to a stop throwing the three forward where their faces hit the seat in front of them.

"Ouch," Shisui grumbled rubbing his forehead.

Itachi ignored his wound to look out the window. "We're here."

The village lights blared in the window. Neon signs of blue, green and pink came from shop and bar windows, hoping to allure wanderers into their doors. Small booths and stalls also had neon lights dangling from their carts and bodies.

As they left the bus and walked further into to town and away from the outskirts the less range of color appeared until white lights of candles lit the main pavilion and roads.

The small, 'humble' village had changed to a bustling, lit venue.

"How peculiar…"Itachi commented.

Shisui sighed at the word choice but decided to ignore his cousin for the moment. "How much time until we catch the next train."

Itachi glanced at his phone, "We only have thirty minutes."

"Dang…" Shisui snapped grabbing Sakura's arm. "I don't want to be parted from you."

"We'd have the ride back—" Itachi began.

"Let go," Sakura snarled.

"I'm being a gentleman."

"I don't care."

"Bu-t-t-t-t—"

"Shut it, Shisui," Itachi said with a smirk as he extended his arm to Sakura, which she took, "You obviously don't know how to treat a lady."

"You should stop being such a show-off Itachi," Shisui gave a warning growl, "You might actually reveal your true colors; I'd hate for Sakura to think of you as a soft plush toy."

"I like soft plush toys…" Sakura trailed off at the thought.

Itachi could only smile, "See, I think it all would work out fine."

Shisui froze for a moment and watched the two walk ahead of him, arm in arm. His eyes gave a squint and his lips a tilt up. He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. They didn't turn around. He gave a sigh before running to catch up with them. "I'll be your plush toy, Sakura!" He whined as he grabbed Sakura's free arm.

Her green eyes looked him over in a dead stare, "That didn't sound right."

All three of them started laughing, continuing on their journey to the train station and admiring the lights, sounds, and smells of the world around them.

On the train they joked and laughed about their adventure and life itself, several puns even aimed at Sasuke. After an hour though, Sakura had fallen asleep, her head secured by Itachi's arm.

"You know…" Shisui started before he started to smirk, "You wouldn't have come if not for me."

Itachi's coal eyes looked at Shisui, before he gave a sigh, "I suppose you want a thank you?"

Shisui slipped off his shoes and curled his legs up to his chin, "Nah…"

Silence stretched between them like a comforting blanket.

"I want the girl," Shisui finally spoke.

Coal eyes seemed to sear a hole through Shisui's chest, "That's not going to happen." Itachi leaned his head against Sakura's and gave a restful sigh.

"Hnn…"

"Hn."

Shisui watched the scenery change, the white become green, and the country become towns. He kept watch as his cousin and friend slept. Soon they would be back in the city, back to the routine of every day, where he would have to dawn his black clothes and silver crested badge, be mature and make calls that he'd rather not make. But, that was life.

His eyes turned to the two before him, sleeping peacefully, and then he looked up at the ceiling watching the dim lights and outside glares disrupt patterns.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. His inbox was full of twenty-seven messages and eight voice mails.

He scanned through the messages most consisted of warnings of 'leave Sakura alone', 'don't you dare touch her', 'get your filthy hands off.' He smiled at the last message and only message not sent by Sasuke but from Sasuke's mother, 'take good care of the girl, make sure she gets home safe and please stop sending my son photos.'

'Yes Ma'am' he typed on the glowing screen before sending the message off.

He reached out his hand and brushed back a thin strand of pink hair from the woman's face. He leaned back and held his phone, taking one last picture of just the girl. 'Send' or 'Save' popped up on the screen. Shisui smiled and tapped 'Save.'


	7. Practice Advice 2

_Title: Dinner  
Universe: Practice Advice  
Genre: Romance and Humor  
Summary: How could her mother allow her to be driven home by a stranger? _

_A/n: The second part to this (Itachi's part) is still in a cupboard somewhere…assuming it didn't get deleted when I had to reset my pc to factory condition… Thank you for all of those who have reviewed and please enjoy the second 'chapter' of Practice Advice.  
_

* * *

Did he have to stare at her over dinner? It appeared so. The amazing thing was, even though she appeared to be his sole attention, he was able to answer all of her mother's date questions (about his job, morals, family issues), and he was still able to eat his food without looking at it.

She now knew that when Sasuke meant 'Perfect Aniki' he meant 'Psycho Alien.' She paused in her thoughts, and then covered her lips with her napkin as she smiled at her wit.

The man's posture was freakish. Everything he did looked like it was done by an etiquette master. He had an evil grin too that only appeared to grow larger the angrier she got. She learned quickly that her growling at him over the table or saying anything at all made him smile. So she had shut up and just sat there, getting angrier and internally screaming. If there was one thing she hated it was someone watching her eat. Nothing made her more self-conscious. It was like screaming 'Eat pink piggy! Eat!' at her.

The only good thing was she didn't have to talk to him; her mother was taking care of it. His dark eyes gleamed over the table as he stuck his fork in the last piece of his chicken linguine. Oh, it looked just as delicious as her pesto spaghetti and she hated chicken. She was starving. She wanted to eat. But he was still staring at her.

Her mother gave a laugh as if the man just said the funniest thing in the world; and if he had, she had missed it in her stomachs distress.

"I think I'm going to grab a quick drink before we go," her mother announced getting up. Another drink was another way of saying she was going to the bar to find the most expensive liquor. She hoped that whatever her mom bought would hurt the man before her.

"I'm sorry you're not hungry, maybe it's the food; do you want something else?" he asked innocently enough.

"No, having people stare at me tends to make me lose my appetite," she replied. It was really a lie. Mentally she refused to eat; her stomach still wanted her to shove it into her mouth.

"Really?" his hands were now positioned under his chin; he leaned forward as if to intensify his stare.

She didn't, no; she wouldn't give him a vocal answer. She instead settled for rubbing the top of her nose with her middle finger.

His dark eyes narrowed to slits as if challenged.

Sakura could see her mom walking back to her seat, draining a shot glass at the same time. She caught the waitress's attention and motioned for a box. The waitress took off. The hazel eyes of her mom looked angry.

"Well, thank you very much for the night Itachi. It was an absolute pleasure to eat dinner with you," her mom smiled as though nothing was the matter, although the waitress might have given it away with the amount of speed she shoved the black folder at Itachi.

Itachi slid his card in the black folder and handed it back to the waitress and extended the white, take-home box to Sakura as if not noticing the waitress's oddity. "The pleasure was mine. Are you sure you don't want dessert?"

Tsunade bit her lip and looked at Sakura. Her eyes seemed to sear a hole through the rather large forehead. Uh-oh Sakura quickly retracted her middle finger.

"No, I think we're good. Thank you for the offer though," the smile was back as Tsunade turned to Itachi.

"Ma'am, would you mind if I drove Sakura back? Its old fashion, but I would like to walk her to the door," Itachi asked.

Sakura could feel all the blood leave her face. Being stuck in a car with the man before her for twenty-minutes while hungry, one of them would die. She tried to speak, but her voice came out hoarse in horror, "No-"

"It would be an opportune moment for you to evaluate my driving ability," Itachi cut Sakura off, the evil smile was already starting, she could see it!

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Tsunade said, taking the white box from Sakura's hands. "But we live about twenty minutes away…"

"The more time to get to know each other," Itachi said looking at Sakura.

"I trust you are a good driver," Tsunade smiled, she pushed Sakura forward, "I'll head out. Take your time-be home by eleven."

No! Sakura's mind screamed as she watched her mom turn her back. Her feet tried to move and stand and follow, but then her sprained foot touched the floor. Sakura dropped right back into her seat, staring, eyes wide with panic. Not only was her only protector leaving her in the arms of a villain, she had stolen her food too.

Itachi retrieved his card from the waitress and then looked at the dazed girl. Slowly, the pink head turned around. The green eyes looked full of anger and the girl looked ready to spit fire, "You _will_take me straight home."

Itachi retrieved the crutches from the wall and extended them to the girl. "_Will_ I now? Is that another order?" Itachi asked leaning in close, his smirk growing. He quickly moved to the side as she jabbed at him with one of the crutches.

Itachi gave a bow and then motioned to the door, "Ready to go?"

Sakura's lips twitched but followed the man till they were outside. He turned left and she turned right. There was no way she was getting into a car with a pervert.

Itachi stopped, "Where are you going?"

"Home," Sakura answered without turning around. She might be able to make it by eleven.

She heard footsteps coming closer; she turned around sending out a jab with her crutch.

He easily avoided her stab and walked beside her, "So you want to walk all the way home with me?" he asked.

Sakura froze. "I'm walking all the way home alone!"

"You are rather demanding," Itachi commented.

Why the heck was he still around then? "Then leave me alone," she barked, moving her crutches with more power.

"Are you really going to walk all the way home?"

She looked at him; his eyes were looking ahead though. "No, I plan to skip some of the way."

He turned to her and gave sigh, his head looking down at her crutches. Then he looked her back in the eyes, a smile spreading across his face.

Fear rippled throughout her body… no, oh dear no, what had she done? She just told herself to not answer him, to not be sarcastic, to not talk at all.

"Hmm, walking alone at night with a pretty girl at my side doesn't sound half bad," he winked.

She was going to die…or he was. She swung at him with her right crutch and he grabbed it, pulling it forward so she fell against him. He yanked the crutch out of her hand and then snatched the other one. He tossed them to the side and then stared her down, the smile looking far more upset than happy. "That is going to have to stop, at some point, do you understand?"

She wobbled, trying her hardest to put space between their close bodies. It didn't matter how inviting he looked, there was no way she was going to let the pervert get the best of her. She tried to slug him, but he caught that too.

His hand held onto her outstretched wrist. "I do like your feisty spirit," he said kissing the top of her knuckles.

She tried to pull back but he grabbed her, and he picked her off the ground like she was a flower. He tossed her over his shoulder, and then, as she kicked (with one leg) and screamed, he picked up her crutches.

"You should stop being so uncivilized, you're drawing attention to yourself," he said as he passed a couple in the parking lot, who then started walking on the other side of the street.

"They are going to report you to the police, and they are going to put you in jail," she hissed as she smacked his spine.

Itachi laughed, although there was the grunt of pain at being hit by the young girl, "You know my entire family basically runs the 'force' in this area, and those that aren't family are close friends of my family. You would know that if you'd been paying attention at all to what I was saying at the table. But I'm glad you enjoy looking at me, it would be upsetting if my future wife found me ugly. "

"Look at you? You were staring at me!" She started squirming again after stopping to hear him speak. "Let me go per-"

A beeping noise cut her off. She raised her body up and looked around; the car in front of her had its lights on.

Itachi opened the door with the hand that had the crutches. He slid the crutches from the driver side to the back seat, and then he set the girl on the ground. He grabbed her knee before it could hit him in the groan (again.)

She growled at having her move blocked, in return he smiled, and then picked her up and pushed her into the seat.

"Better move," he said over her squeals as he pulled himself up and into the SUV. She scooted to the right, allowing him to sit in the driver's seat. She moved to the passenger's seat, and was about to open the door.

"Buckle up," he commanded as he turned on the car and hit the gas while on reverse.

She slammed into the side of the window and quickly grappled for the buckle as Itachi started driving down the street.

"Ever heard of a speed limit!" she cried in alarm. The man was going to kill her!

He gave her his evil smirk and then slowed down, "A couple miles over doesn't hurt anyone."

"A couple?" was the man an idiot or a psychopath?

He didn't answer her and instead put his right arm around the back of her seat. "Where do you live?" he asked.

Sakura noted that they were already going in the wrong direction. She scowled at him. The man was an absolute jerk, but genius. If she gave him directions he would be able to find her anytime he wanted, if she stayed silent she would never get home…unless she could plan her escape.

"Sakura," his tone betrayed his amusement and the smile he was wearing wouldn't get him very far.

"Go to hell."

His smile grew, "That must be an interesting place to live and only twenty-minutes away; I didn't know it was so close."

Suddenly the hand that was around the chair was touching her cheek. He turned his gaze from the road and with a wink said, "We could go to my place instead."

Sakura blinked.

"That was being suggestive."

Sakura shrieked swear words and slapped his hand away while crushing herself against the door of the passenger's side. Her whole face felt as though it had been stuck in an oven. The option of jumping out of a moving vehicle was starting to look appealing.

As though reading her mind, the doors of the car clicked and locked.

Her green eyes looked at the man; the smile was almost to his ears.

"Look you dirty son of a – G_urgle-splash-murgle._"

Sakura's and Itachi's eyes went to the young girl's stomach. Sakura could feel her face starting to burn, how could her stomach betray her?

The car turned right and Sakura looked up, they were pulling into a fast food restaurant.

He turned to her and raised his eyebrow, "What do you want to eat?"

Sakura sighed; there was no use in denying the obvious. "A burger, no pickles." She wanted to swipe that smile off of his face.

He rolled down the window with the press of a button and repeated her order in his own twisted way. "A number two with no pickles."

"That will be three twenty-two, please pull up to the next window," the male, teenage voice replied through the black box with a bit of static and the sound of food being munched in the background.

The car pulled forward. Itachi handed him a five and took the bag, passing it to Sakura.

"Sakura?" A chubby face shoved its way through the open window of the building and almost through Itachi's car window.

Sakura would have laughed at Itachi's expression as he pressed himself against the seat of the car to avoid the boy's head, but instead Sakura was far more embarrassed. "Hey Choji." She gave a small wave. It was going to be all over school tomorrow that she was dating a guy way older than her.

The dark eyes of the boy flickered between Sakura and Itachi, "Who's your friend?"

"Itachi," Itachi said for himself as he extended his right hand to the boy. The boy took it and gave it a shake. "Are you a close friend of Sakura's?"

Choji tilted his head to the side, and then pulled himself back into the window. He picked up his chip bag and once again leaned out while eating. "Not best friends, but we're part of the Rookie Nine."

"Rookie Nine?"

Sakura wanted to keel over and die.

"Yup," Choji said shoving another handful of chips in his mouth.

"Would that be a club of some sort?" Itachi asked.

Choji smiled, "That was what we called our club when we were in elementary school. It was really just a recess club, but we were totally the cool kids if you know what I mean."

A recess club. How could Choji talk about it and not be embarrassed. Wait. All Itachi knew –

"We played Pokémon, chess, tag and if you did something wrong the punishment was kissing something… What did you get again Sakura? It was a rock and the sap of a tree right? Oh, yes it was. Boy that was so funny!"

That was it. She was officially dead. The amusement on Itachi's face was enough to strike her head off. No doubt she was red as though drenched in blood. Why her?

"What did she do wrong?" Itachi asked.

Choji opened his mouth to answer, but the horn of a car stopped him.

"Some of us want something to eat!" A man cried from behind them.

"Later Sakura, thanks for the tip Itachi," Choji said pulling himself back in.

Itachi raised an eyebrow and drove through. "Can I safely assume you are not going to tell me what you did?"

"Yes."

He sighed and pulled into the first available parking space.

"What are you stopping for?" Sakura asked.

"So you can eat… You seem to yell a lot when I drive. I thought it might be safer to stop and allow you to swallow than to end up having to do the Heimlich maneuver while driving," Itachi said, looking away and out of his window.

"Thanks," she muttered, it seemed like he was going to give her a break for a while.

"Not a problem," he leaned back into his chair, his eyes still out his window.

Bite, chew, swallow, she chanted in her head as she started on her burger. She kept her eyes on him, as if expecting him to turn around and start staring at her.

She noticed he no longer looked so elegant; it was as if the dinner had been a charade. He looked tired and old by the way his shoulders looked weighted; they never looked slumped though, it was as if they were held up by a metal brace.

He looked strangely human, and she was surprised at the fact she found that appealing.

She saw the side of his mouth turn up; he was smiling, probably from something perverted. "What's so amusing?"

His head leaned back her way and he looked down at her, "I was just thinking how people have odd paranoias and fears, like scoptophobia."

"Scoptophobia?"

"The fear of being stared at, like in the case of eating," His lips twisted up in a smirk.

Sakura puffed out her cheeks, "It's not from paranoia or fear."

"Hmm? Really? You seem like the paranioa-type-of-gal; first you thought I was a kidnapper, a pervert and you don't like people watching you eat."

"You are a pervert, and technically you have kidnapped me, I'm being held against my will," Sakura growled, taking a bite out of her burger as if to say she could eat while someone was staring at her.

"But it was not my first intention," his smirk widened.

"Look you were the one that approached me-" she said swallowing the large chunk.

"In a seducing fashion?" he teased, leaning in closer to Sakura.

Sakura's eyes watched the black, smooth eyelashes close and the perfect angled face lean closer to her. Her heart stopped. She watched his lips separate, and then chomp upon the burger in her hand. With her reaction slowed, he was easily able to escape her flinging hand. "Jerk! Jerk, Jerk!"

Now her burger had been poisoned. She dropped it back into the bag and picked up the fries. "Jerk," she said once more for good measure.

He gave a chuckle, but put the car in reverse and backed up (slower than before), and then began to drive not teasing her further.

"Will you allow me to drop you off at home?" he asked. He glanced at her for a second and their eyes met.

She could feel her body warming; she turned to look out her window, still eating fries, "Sure, why not?" He had bought dinner twice and ignored the 'club' thing, and he truly hadn't hurt her. He was just a tease. He probably just liked to freak her out and wasn't at all interested. Pretty, eye-candy, arrogant jerk. "Take a right," she said as they came up to a lighted street.

He didn't turn the vehicle and she looked back over at him. "Orders, orders, orders. Why is it you give so many orders?"

The thought actually made Sakura pause as she considered the question. Why did she give so many orders? She used to think she was a fairly polite girl. When had she… Oh yes.

"Naruto," she answered looking back at Itachi, "doesn't hear anything beginning with a please or a request. "

"Hmm," his coal eyes glanced at her, "Keep in mind I am not Naruto then."

Her lips twitched. The arrogant jerk. She had actually considered the question and all he could say was, 'I'm not Naruto', she wasn't stupid he had black hair and Naruto was blond. His eyes were on the road so she smiled, and flipped him off with the hand on her lap. Already she was feeling better.

"I guess I should make myself clear," Itachi said.

"Huh?"

Immediately her middle finger, which was resting innocently out on her leg, was snatched by his right hand. "I am not Naruto," His coal eyes left the road for two seconds to look at her and then returned. His lips were smiling again, "So don't think you'll get away with anything."

The guy was seriously an alien. There was no way he could have seen her hand, no way.

He dropped her hand. He asked, "So, your house is?"

Sakura sighed, looking at the clock on the headboard. It was getting late. "Please take the next right."

"That's my sweetheart," Itachi teased. His pale fingers reached out and pinched her cheek.

She bit him.

He pulled away.

And she pressed herself against the window, and started swearing.

…

It was going to be a long night.


	8. White Lies

_I do not own Naruto. There may be OCness, and please take my ambiguity and imagine to your heart's content. _

**White Lies**

Anbu try-outs were Itachi's favorite time of the year. Being the head and lead tactician Itachi was given free reign over all ANBU 'trainees' as he liked to call them. But, Itachi believed and enforced that the process should include even the veterans; which meant Itachi had free reign over all ANBU.

He was almost smiling at the files, of all the poor souls that were trying to become or return to the second to top rank, the top being hokage. He had a different initiation planned for each person and if there was one thing Itachi loved it was being creative and not in the pastel sense of the word. But thinking of pastel, Itachi had something extra special planned for the newest applying field medic.

He had been withheld from his ANBU duties due to her lie. Tsunade believed her student was the most dutiful angel the world had ever seen and had backhanded him across several training fields into the Forest of Death when he tried to explain that it was not the case. For an old woman she still had a lot of speed, which was probably due to the fact of having a pervert for a colleague.

Of course, for disrupting the peace of the third hokage, for Tsunade was rather loud and obnoxious when she was drunk in a hospital bed, he was taken off ANBU charter for two weeks and docked pay. The pay he would have gotten was used to re-landscape the Forest of Death after massive, multiple fires, sections of uprooted trees and crumpled earth had left the place annihilated.

The two weeks had left him at home. With his mother.

So-because of 'one little, white lie' (as the girl had called it)-he had been forced into two weeks of constant motherly attention, which he hadn't had since he was four, nor did he ever plan to have again. For as much as he loved the woman, there was only so much he could take of her puppy eyes, guilt trips and manipulating ways. She had him cleaning floors, cooking dinner, shopping, exchanging roof tiles and emptying bed pans of the elders, because one day he'd 'have to put up with them without her' unless he got a wife.

Wife.

That had been another area (not including: training, tactical assignments, poisons, clan politics, food, tea, spices, bath water, spas, neighbors and clothing) where she deemed it necessary to give both her opinion and advice.

Meanwhile, Tsunade had been taken off the hospital's charter for four weeks without pay and as punishment she took her apprentice out to a spa in the far reaches of Mist Country in search of the best masseuse in the world, because the so called "Angel" of the Hidden Leaf Village was looking a bit stressed.

Yes, he had been planning Sakura Haruno's initiation into ANBU for a year now.

She was going to pay.

_/ Originally, this was written for CSE's storyline (over seven months ago) but because of a small plot change it no longer fit. _

_Sorry for no updates on my other stories. _

_I hoped you enjoyed. Thank you to those that have reviewed, I appreciate them. _

_Z.z_


	9. Trust 2

_/*Sequel to Trust. _

_Written as requested for Angel897_

_I don't own Naruto. Warning: there may be some Ooc-ness, it is alternate universe. _

_Sorry for lack of updates life, laziness don't mix well together. I hope you enjoy. _

_May God bless and keep you all, _

_Mustsleep Z.z_

_*/_

The world felt too cold to him. The chill was unforgiving and the pain from breathing could have sent him over the edge.

Everyone had left, but him. He didn't know how long he waited to be alone, but that is what he wanted. Taking off would have gotten it faster, yet… he hadn't been able to leave. If he was going to be alone, he wanted to be alone in this place.

Every lesson of pose and etiquette stood between him and the freshly marked grave stone. His body felt like crumbling, his heart like falling out of his chest. It hurt. Far too much. His back remained perfectly straight though, his posture smooth.

He wanted to touch the stone with his lips, to scream and grip the grass. But he was raised an Uchiha, and that just wasn't done. He was stuck, in a place he didn't want to be.

Already regret was filling him. His actions had been like that of a child. He was trained to face everything, from enemies to politics. Nothing was supposed to scare him, or put him on edge… Why then, had he been unable to look into the casket? Why had he been so weak?

He had lost his last chance to see her, to say his last goodbyes. Now there was dirt separating them ; he would never again see her face, sit beside her bed, kneel at her side and talk to his heart's content, which hadn't been long but long enough for him to get whatever bothered him, or whatever questions he needed answering, asked. She had been his ear. She had listened to everything he said with full focus; she had never brushed him aside nor forced him to be something he was not. She had been gentle handed and allowed him to come conclusions by reinforcing his questions, and by doing that, he learned far more from her than anybody else.

He closed his eyes. Thinking about her made his heartache. How could he be uninjured, but be in so much pain?

'Mind over matter,' he had been told since he was a child. But when thoughts caused pain, what was he to do?

She would have known. She knew all the answers. She would have given her toothless smile, kissed his forehead and told him to stop thinking.

So he stopped. And his heart felt like it was shattering inside of his chest.

His eyes scanned the almost empty field. There was a civilian family, in the civilian area down the hill, standing over a lot and putting flowers down. His eyes returned to the grave before him. Flowers littered the stone and the surrounding area. None of them belonged to him though. None.

Just another mistake on his part. Just another regret. He had been selfish, so selfish with her.

His mother had told him many times that she was the oldest woman in Kohona and that she was too old to be bothered with so many questions. When he had asked her if it was true, she had called in his mother.

She had lifted one of her wrinkled fingers and demanded, "If you are to call me old, you are to say it too my face. I am not old!" She had then turned to Itachi to wink, "I'm just beautiful with years. You are to come to me if you have any questions, what's the use with experience if it cannot be shared."

He smiled his smile, just a small lift at the corners, but if he'd known what the smile brought, he would have never done it. The quiet sob escaped from his mouth before he realized what was truly coming up his throat. He put his hand to his mouth as if to suppress all emotions; it did little good.

His knees fell to the ground and he felt like a child again, sitting on the floor at the edge of Grammie's bed in the middle of the night, as he hoped she'd wake up and find him. He'd recently unlocked the sharingan; he had awoken from a nightmare about the fox. She had known he was there all along, as soon as he had opened the door. But she waited, until finally she reached out and touched the top of his head, "Being quiet will do you no good. Only if you speak will you be heard."

And he had spoken, bloody tears running down his face. She had picked him up, rocked him in her arms. She was the only one who still treated him like a child; to everyone else he had become a shinobi, a prodigy, an heir to a powerful clan. As much as it should have made him want her to see him grown up, he preferred it not so. He wanted to be a child, at least sometimes. He was so selfish.

The tears trickled silently down his face. He made no sound after his sob. He was raised better. His fingers dug into the grass before he let go. He looked up at the grave stone.

"Already, I'm lost," he spoke, hoping-wanting to speak with her, just one more time. To tell her how much he loved her. His chance was up though. It had been up three days ago.

"You're not lost silly, we're in the graveyard," a voice announced behind him.

His eyes quickly turned to red orbs to face whoever had seen him at his weakest. The red faded to coal as he looked at the little girl who had decided to kneel beside him on the grass. Her hands twirled a pink carnation, which matched her hair.

She stared at the grave for a bit then turned her head to look at him. Her green eyes looked directly at him before she began speaking, "That's a lot of flowers."

The sting hit him, "She knew a lot of people," and all but one had chosen not to recognize her death.

The little girl nodded her head, "It's very pretty."

The word caught him off guard, and he looked away from the girl and at the site. "Death isn't pretty." Yet, they tried so hard to make it seem more beautiful. As if to take away the pain, grief, and loss it brought.

"Hmm…" the little girl's lip pouted out as she tried to understand the boy beside her. Suddenly she smiled, "It's just not pretty enough yet."

Itachi turned to the little girl. "T-," his words of retort stopped as she extended the pink carnation to him.

In any other moment, in any other day he would have rebuked the girl for her misinterpretation of death. He didn't though, he stared at the little girl, his mind blank. Subconsciously though, he reacted. His hand reached out and it gently picked the carnation from the girl's hand by taking the stem.

"Thank you," he told her. He reached out and traced the letters etched in the stone before he placed the carnation at the bottom.

He looked back at the little girl.

"It looks perfect now. The white ascent the pink."

Itachi smiled, the white flowers surrounding the ground and lot did accent the one pink flower. "Yes, the white _accents_ the pink very well."

The girl's cheeks blushed and she repeated the word 'accent' under her breath as if to memorize its pronunciation.

"Do you have a name little one?"

The little girl's eyes squinted as she smiled, "I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Sakura was my grandmother's name as well. It's a very beautiful name," Itachi said, his eyes now focusing on the similar eye color the girl had.

"Was she pretty?" the girl asked blushing.

"In her way," Itachi said, thinking of the time engraved skin and loose smile. "She was a great woman. She knew so many things…"Itachi looked back at the grave," and she always had time to share it."

The little girl walked on her knees closer to the gravestone. There she repeated Itachi's action of tracing the letters. "Sakura You-ch-i-ha."

"Uchiha," Itachi corrected.

"Sakura Uchiha…" The girl repeated, looking back at the boy for acknowledgment.

Itachi nodded at the correct pronunciation.

"Sasuke's in my class and he's an Uchiha," the girl said happily. She turned back to the stone, her mouth forming the words 'Uchiha' over and over again to memorize it as her fingers continued to trace the letters.

Itachi watched the young girl go about her business. He felt no need to get away now, or a need to get her to leave. Being with her, and her being in her own little world, was like being alone. Or perhaps he really hadn't wanted to be alone in the first place.

He'd wanted Sakura. His Sakura. His Grammie. Not the little girl. But no want in the world could bring his grandmother back to him, or to the clan, or to the village. Death was savage, ripping apart lives of the dead and the living, mutilating hearts with invisible cuts that couldn't be healed.

It was only the emotion of grief, he kept reminding himself. Physically he wasn't injured. But his body protested; his heart protested; it was in pain. There seemed no lessening of it either; it wasn't like a cut where the blood clotted or the nerve receptors stopped their transmitting. No. The pain continued on, not dulling. It was like he was going to die himself -

"Do you want to meet my gran-gran?"

The girl's voice disrupted his conscious thought and the oddity of the question made the pain stop as he searched for an answer.

The pink head tipped to the side, right then left, until she seemed to take no answer as a yes. She stood and brushed off her pink dress, which now sported two green grass-stains, and extended her hand to the older boy.

He took it.

Immediately he was almost dragged by the little girl. His shinobi training got him to standing, but the persistent green-eyed girl had him trailing after her for several moments. She swung her hand causing the clasped fingers to become a swing.

"I've only met my gran-gran four times," the little girl said, showing the boy behind her four fingers on her free hand. "Ma has only brought me four times, but I'd like to meet her more. Your gran-gran too. When I come again I'll say hi. Will you say hi to my gran-gran when you come? Ma says she likes it when I say hi, so I say hi, but I don't just say hi I tell her about the academy and flower arranging and… and Ino… and… and I'll tell her about you and your gran-gran, maybe they can be friends like us. We need to introduce them," the little girl continued talking until they reached the bottom of the hill, where the civilian graves were located.

The civilian woman was lighting a candle at the grave stone and she only looked up with the little girl announced their presence.

"I made a new friend!" the girl sung out, her voice too high to be pleasant to the ear.

The civilian woman's eyes grew wide at the sight of him. Fear, he saw it.

"I am so sorry," the woman began taking her daughter's hand to pull her away from the shinobi before her.

He let the hand drop. He was once again the heir, the prodigy, the 'Uchiha.'

"There is nothing to apologize for," he said slowly, trying to be as calm as possible to not spook the woman further.

"I'm introducing him to Gran-gran," the girl proclaimed, picking up a carnation from the vase beside the gravestone.

"Sakura, Uchiha is griev-"the woman's sharp eyes looked back up at Itachi, the fear was still evident.

"It is fine," Itachi assured her, faking a smile he'd been trained at by his mother. At the moment, he'd prefer not to be so immediately reminded of his loss.

The woman nodded slowly, releasing the girl's hand.

"This is my gran-gran!" the girl said loudly, too loudly. She had stepped over the grave and turned to point down at it. She then put her hands on her hips, expectantly.

Itachi dipped his head and kneeled at the grave and traced the letters on the stone. Hakari Haruno. Either the little girl had no father or this was the mother's mother in-law, and the way the woman was straightening up the grave stone he was inclined to believe the former, for it was doubtful also that the Haruno clan (if it was that) was large enough for intermarriage.

The girl again collapsed to the ground and began plucking at the grass near the grave stone. She immediately began chatting away, talking of something about a friend by the name of Ino and about a hair ribbon. He zoned her out and nodded politely before standing. He watched the mother light a candle, and how she went about cutting grass away from the head stone. Was it done out of some morbid transfixion on death, or out of love? He didn't understand.

"Aniki!" two voices called from his right. Itachi looked up the hill, to the shinobi cemetery. One blond and black head appeared in his line of sight, followed by meshed grey. Kakashi had taken an unusual interest his brothers since their grandmother's fall, which had led, eventually, to her death. She had called in Kakashi and had spoken to him alone. Since then the teenager had reduced majority of his ANBU duties to stay around the compound and spend time with the little ones.

A small twitch of lips once again attacked at Itachi's heart. Only grandmother could make someone change so drastically. Nothing would be the same without her.

He immediately turned his head down to remind himself he was in the company of others and it wasn't appropriate for him to show emotion, he wasn't Shisui after all.

"Thank you for introducing me to your grandmother, I will be sure to stop by and say hello when I visit my own," he told the girl, excusing himself to return to his family.

"Take care!" the little girl waved as he set off towards the hill.

"What were you doing talking to one of our class mates?" the question came out more like a demand from his true blood brother. He always seemed to have somewhat of a jealous temperament about his older brother's time. It was adorable, for he acted the same way if his 'younger' brother, Naruto, spent more time with anybody then what Sasuke deemed allotted.

Itachi touched the forehead of his brother slowly. "She was paying respects to her grandmother as well."

His brother's face scrunched and then was replaced with a solemn stare.

Naruto clenched Kakashi's hand, making the older boy move slightly away for distance. Kakashi pulled the little boy's hand out of his own. Then the kid began bawling. "I want Grammie to come back!"

So did he, oh, so did he.

He gently wrapped his arms underneath Naruto's and then picked him up in a hug. "Shh…" He murmured, just like his mother used to do to him when he was a child. The kid cried harder.

It was ok though, the boy was only four. Itachi didn't mind the tears, unlike most of his family. The boy was crying for the two of them. He was crying the tears Itachi was not allowed to shed. Sasuke attached himself to Itachi's shirt, leaving the custody of Kakashi, the older teenager looked a little relieved.

"Are you ready to go home?" Kakashi asked, his eye looking directly at the grave and at the pink carnation on it.

"Yes."

Several weeks had gone by and missions had come and went, then there came the day were his mother and father looked upon their children with uncertainty. His mother was rocking back and forth on both feet, obviously she wanted to say something. Their father drank his night tea with more focus then needed. The younger children, of course, read their parents very well.

"What is it?" Naruto, of course, was always the one to break any amount of silence their household had. Sasuke looked up expectantly from his place beside Naruto.

Black eyes went to black eyes and the parents stood each other off, and the tension between them grew.

Itachi had been reading and Naruto's statement made him look up as well.

"Well," their mother stated, "I think they deserve to know."

Their father clicked his tongue in disappointment but said nothing. He was in agreement, but he had to look otherwise. He turned back to his tea, and the children's eyes looked to their mother, who had now been given reign of the conversation and information.

The woman turned and opened the nearest closet and then lifted down several large wooden boxes, each the same size. "Your grandmother gave these to you in her will, but she wanted you to wait another year before you opened them. But…" The woman's eye looked to her eldest, who's stress lines had become increasingly noticeable from his lack of sleep. "I think the decision should be up to you."

Closer inspection showed that each of their names had been carved into one of the boxes.

Naruto tackled his box with gusto that was unbecoming of any Uchiha, the parents sighed in unison having long since given up trying to shape the boy and his unruly antics. Well almost…

Fugaku cleared his throat and Naruto immediately sat up straight, yet continued frantically to try and open the box. Sasuke began rotating his in his hands. Itachi already realized that they were opened by seals, possibly blood as well; that way only one person was ever able to open it. How she had gotten their blood? She no doubt stole it from the Uchiha doctors' stash (they had at least several liters of every members blood on hand.) Such a box was an expensive treasure; he wondered which seal master she had gotten around to seeing.

He picked his up. "May I be excused?"

His mother nodded.

The length of the hallway to his bedroom felt too long and when at last he got inside his room, he shut the door. He set the box on the bed and looked over it carefully. It was not very light, but not heavy; curiosity gripped him and he wanted to throw himself at the box and rip it open. His hand instead reached out and traced the letters of his name. It looked identical to the way she wrote. He closed his eyes and sighed, there was no way he was going to be able to wait a year. He wanted her; already the clan was forcing weight upon weight on him; not to mention the other elders were beginning to hold a grudge because his grandmother's seat on the council was turned over to someone outside of the clan.

He cut his finger with a shuriken and began working on the first seal she had taught him.

There was the light sound of 'psh' as the box changed from a solid to a bottom and top. In a matter of seconds he opened the box, only to look down at several leather journals and an envelope that rested on top of them. The envelope had his name scratched upon it. He could hear the pounding of his heart in his ears as he picked up the envelope and opened it.


	10. Excessive Managing

_ I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing this. It seems like it's been too long since I've written humor. I miss it T . T  
_

_ Anyway. Thank you taking the time to read my work. If you like it, or if you don't, please leave a review as I would love to hear your opinions or a helpful critique.  
_

_-Z.z  
_

* * *

Prompt: Excessive Managing.

I slammed my books on the break table then turned to look at myself in the mirror. I tried to fix as many loose, pink strands as I could; shoving them under the already pulled tight hair of my ponytail. It was a worthless effort, and I should have known by now. My hair was too frizzy and disheveled to save. I shrugged off my coat. Already the drastic change in temperature was burning me alive. I hated the air unit; it was either too hot or too cold; never had it ever been reasonable. I even had to buy special deodorant just to my shirt didn't become a lake while I worked.

I snatched up a tacky, gross apron from the shelf to my right. Tossing it over my head, I was able put my head through the loop on my first try. It had taken a month to master and I was still proud of it. My fingers tied the back together, doing it so many times in the last two years I could probably do it upside down over a bowl of bubbling acid. A drop of sweat trickled down my nose, souring my mood more. I swiped at my forehead; already I was dripping clown fish water… My life sucked. "Damn."

"Is there a problem Miss Haruno?"

I flipped around and slammed a hand over my mouth before I let loose anymore cuss words. Instead they echoed around in my head, directing themselves solely at the person before me. As much as I wanted to start yelling at him, I couldn't. I wasn't going to lose my job, not when my wage had just increased. He was just looking for a reason to fire me. Well, bring it!

"Of course not, sir." I could already feel my face beginning to twitch from my stiff muscles.

"Good," His eyes squinted at me as he returned my smile. His looked fake enough to be plastic. Two could play at that game.

I forced my smile to look even wider before the owner of the company's son, Itachi Uchiha. He'd been charged with overseeing the local branch to assess his management skills. He couldn't do it normally though. He wanted one-on-one with everyone. It was excessive managing.

I'll admit it. At first I enjoyed the idea of having some 'special time' with the tall, handsome, smart guy. Then I realized he didn't understand human interaction. All of my flirting was taken as literal and earned me a "You laugh a lot Sakura; did you know that?" I'd probably have to act like a prostitute and dress the part if I wanted him to get it. I may be a desperate girl hoping to have a rich guy fall in love with her, but I wasn't that desperate. So I continued my small flirting in hopes that he would eventually get it… he didn't by the way, just to clear that up.

Several weeks after he'd been on the job, he started thinking I was bi-polar. What had really happened was that my _dear fellow employee- _

Never mind, I'm not even going to try and be sarcastic. What happened was that the most pathetic and annoying life form on the planet, Sai, had once again, saw me trying to get a customer to buy more, thought it was funny and then butted in. The customer had ended up not buying anything and had left pissed at being called a… well… let's just say a very unpleasant name by Sai. After the customer's departure, I had dragged the man back into our break room and screamed every cussword I knew at him, even using a variety of different languages to try and get my point across.

Anyway, a very stunned Itachi had walked in on our little break room conversation. After a couple of more weeks he soon found out that, after asking me directly, I was not bi-polar. I should have said that I was, because he continued to ask questions such as "Why did you pretend to be happy?"

I had been flirting and infatuated with him. But what female would admit that to—a still socially awkward but—amazing, hot guy. So like an idiot, trying to think of a lie in a mere second "I didn't want to get fired" came out of my mouth.

After that he had turned his head to the side, analyzing the situation in his head. And such a pretty head too. His long, black, beautiful hair was tied in a low ponytail; no strand was ever loose unless he wanted it to be. The raven sheen increased his pale, elegant features. He wasn't too pale, but just creaming enough to give off a higher-up aristocratic look. And his black eyes were just perfectly framed in thin, rectangle glasses. He was, most definitely, an uber yum.

But as I stood there drooling like a rabid dog staring down a rabbit; Mr. Yum had come to a very bad conclusion.

"You don't believe I can fire you…"

I'd stumbled for words but the smile spreading across his face had blown away all thoughts from my head. With just a smile he'd gone from yum to D.E.E.W. (Delicious Enough to Eat Whole.)

The smile grew more pronounced as he leaned in closer to me. And I felt I might die from a heat explosion. That is until he spoke in my ear, "Oh Miss Haruno, I have every power and right to fire you."

I believe the entire world could hear me gulp in fear at such a sentence. I was in medical school; I had my own apartment; I had to keep a good job. The heat turned to a freezing cold breeze and I was left shivering in the snow.

The beautiful smile had unlocked his inner demon and he had every intention of leading me to Hades. Now he was doing everything he could to get me in trouble, and write me up. But I wasn't some weak, little girl. I fought back. I did everything expected of me and more. Sweep the floors? I swept and dusted. Smile at the customer? I smiled and complimented them. I would not lose my job. I swore to it.

My work hours got longer and more often, and he made sure he was there, every time, to make sure I was doing my duty. It was like I was being stalked in my own workplace. It wouldn't have been so bad if it meant he was interested in me, but the only thing he was interested in was correcting my mistakes, finding a way to fire me and overall making my life miserable (which he was accomplishing).

But I smiled at him, all the more, filling my body with as much killing intent as possible. Then I turned and giggled like a child as I shoved my books and purse into my locker.

"It's good to see you in such a cheerful mood."

"It's a good day to be in a cheerful mood." Saying it without sarcasm leaking out of my mouth like a broken fire hydrant was hard, but I think I was able to cap it pretty well.

He turned his back to go out into the store. Taking advantage of his inattention, I slammed the locker.

He looked back around, slowly as if not at all surprised. "Is there a problem?"

I giggled, "I'm sorry, sometimes I don't know my own strength."

"Please keep it in mind. I would hate to cut your pay to fix any damaged store equipment," he smiled, that villainous, beautiful smile before he turned back around. "Your shift starts in five."

I felt like flipping him off, but I knew that the break room had a camera and he'd probably watch it after I left. So instead, I looked up at it and smiled my _sweetest _smile and made my way to the main entry way. In two seconds, my eyes roamed the field. Ino was already talking to a customer and a man stood to my left; peering at this, then at that, obviously wanting to talk to someone. He was at least five years my senior, but I highly doubted he was in his thirties. He looked single; an easier target for me to sell to, assuming he was straight.

He then turned to look at me, his black eyes dilating slightly. The tan skin on his forearm tensed, his muscles flexing. I smiled, yup, he was straight.

"Good afternoon sir; may I assist you with anything today?"

He returned my smile, but seemed to hesitate, his eyes looking over my shoulder as if in thought. Perhaps he was dating… "Actually, yes. I think I would like to buy a refrigerator."

It didn't matter, he would buy a refrigerator or come back, that was for certain. "Well, I know a lot about all the brands here. My name is Sakura Haruno," I extended my hand in greeting.

"It's a pleasure Sakura, please call me Shisui."

A light cough sounded behind me and I turned to look at my _dearest _manager. Surprisingly he looked extremely upset and ready to bite my head off, or fire me. I almost gulped, and then remembered there was a customer and I was certain he wouldn't fire me in front of one… At least I hoped he wouldn't.

"This is the store's manager, Itachi Uchiha. If you have had any problems with me or any of the other staff you may contact him directly. He's very one-on-one," I smiled at the man. People were supposed to drop off customer service cards, not actually talk to him in person. But he had to come up while I was trying to sell.

He smiled, rather feral like. "Actually, today I'm here to asses Ms Haruno's communication skills. She's one of our record sellers and we'd like to learn her tricks. So I'll be tagging along today, I hope you don't mind."

He wasn't offering to leave. Joy. Flirting with customers was against policy, so there was no way I could do it in front of Itachi… I stopped. Itachi didn't even know what flirting was. All I had to do was treat this man like I had treated Itachi this entire time. Either one, he'd get the hint; or two, I'd get the sale. Nothing could possible go wrong… right?


	11. Stable

_Title/Prompt: Stable  
Genres: Psychological and Supernatural.  
__Summary: Sometimes reality is just a figment of our imaginations, other times our imagination is reality._

_A/n: Thank you (my readers) for once again taking the time to read my work. A special and sincere thank you for those who have taken a time to leave a review; I do read them and I appreciate any feedback you care to give. Please enjoy and have a wonderful week, Z.z _

* * *

"I'm not crazy. I'm not. I swear I'm not," she said, her voice more of a whisper than a proclamation. Her pink hair was matted; dirt covered her face. Her green eyes stared into the mirror. "I'm not crazy."

She removed the towel that was wrapped around her hand. It was already soaked through with blood. She put the cut hand under cold running water, it stung, but she held it there. She grabbed another towel from the rack behind her and wrapped the hand back up, tightening the cloth so that it applied pressure.

She kneeled and pulled open the cabinet drawers, looking for rubbing alcohol. Eventually she gave up looking and turned her attention to the house itself. It wasn't spacious, but the large amount of newspapers on the porch meant that the owners had been gone at least for a week. She would probably be safe for the night. She'd leave in the morning and hopefully find another place by nightfall.

She tightened her grip on the gun. She needed some rest.

Her muddy sneakers left foot prints on the light beige carpet as she made her way through the hallway. She'd staked out the house for an entire day, made sure no one was home, so now she could get food and find a corner in which she could sleep in and easily escape from. Coming up to the refrigerator, her mouth salivated. How long had it been since she'd had a decent meal? She opened the door, and immediately noticed the lack of food. She hit her uninjured hand against the white, plastic door. Of course, there would be no food, they were going away and probably cleaned out the refrigerator before things spoiled.

She opened the freezer; at least there were some television dinners. She pulled out a box, not caring what it actually was only that it would provide her with the promise of something warm. She let it cook while she turned on the television, turning the sound off, so she could watch the news.

It was then she heard the click of a door unlocking. Her knuckles became white due to her grip on the gun and she quickly hid herself behind the wall, so she wasn't in view of the entrance. The door opened and she could hear steps coming up the stairs. The microwave then stopped, and beeped at being finished. Inside she swore at her luck.

"Hello?" A male voice asked. "Sasuke are you here?"

She saw the shadow of the man walk into the kitchen. She left her hiding place and followed, her gun held in front of her and aimed at the back of a black jacket. Finally she gathered her courage; she had to before he turned around. "Freeze!" she barked.

The man stiffened.

"Hands in the air, now."

He put up his hands.

"Turn, slowly." He did just as she said and she sized him up. His build looked a couple years older than her, but his face had stress lines. With the dress pants and shirt he looked white collar.

Black eyes looked down at her and the eyebrow of one eye rose slightly. "So you're the cop… I thought they caught you already."

She narrowed her eyes at the man before her. It wasn't good he knew who she was. "Go over and sit at the table," she motioned with her toweled hand, the one with the gun didn't move from his body.

"How long has your hand been bleeding like that?" he asked, making his way to the table.

She bit her lip, almost hard enough to draw blood. He pulled out a chair to face her then sat down, hands still in the air. He gave her a smile, as if he had the upper hand.

"Take off your jacket and toss it over here." The jacket landed right before her feet.

She stepped on the jacket carefully, checking it for a weapon. She wouldn't take the chance of letting go of the gun and her other hand was currently too wrapped to rummage through the pockets.

"You need to go the hospital."

They all wanted to send her back… didn't they? She looked him in the eye, "I don't need to go the hospital. What I need is to get out of here without you calling _them_."

"_Them_, as in your fellow police officers?" The black eyed man asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity. "The people you knew before you went crazy."

"I'm not crazy!"

"People don't wake up, forget their entire lives and then go on a shooting spree." The man was too calm to be in the situation he was in. Something was wrong.

"I didn't forget and I didn't go on some shooting spree. I didn't shoot anyone, no one was hurt." It wasn't like he would listen to her anyways. They all thought she was insane.

"Then what exactly makes them think you forgot?"

"I'm not crazy…" She needed some rest; right now wasn't the best time for her to be speaking with this man.

"Why did you shoot?"

How many times had she gone over it? How many more times would she be asked? "They weren't listening to me. I needed them to help me find someone that was hurt and they thought I was just kidding around."

"Where is this 'someone' now?"

Her green eyes went to the side for a moment before she looked back. "I don't know…"

"How exactly was he hurting?"

"He had a katana sticking out of his chest! He was dying and they wouldn't listen to me!" How many times had she seen the blonde headed man with blue eyes stare out at her? "I kept trying to get to him, but I couldn't. I tried…. I tried." He kept dying right before her eyes. Every time she was too late to save him.

"What's a katana?"

She gave a huff. "They asked that too… It's a type of short blade." Taking a breath, the smell of food infiltrated her senses, and as much as she wanted to shoot him and get it over with, part of her resisted. She was a cop wasn't she? How could she even think of killing an innocent person? The other half, though, was telling her be quick about it before he killed her. He was dangerous, very dangerous. "I'm not crazy."

"You keep saying that." The man lowered one hand so he could rest it under his cheek. He stared at her, a bored expression on his face. "So, where's his body. I assume someone doesn't survive a blade piercing their heart, not without surgery."

Her mouth twitched. "Shut up. I'm not crazy. He keeps dying, no matter what I do."

"Ah." The black eyes stared at her and she knew he believed he just got stuck with someone from a loony-bin.

"You wouldn't understand. He's more real than the rest of this," she motioned to the house. "But it doesn't matter. I'll be going soon."

"Going where with an injury like that?"

"I have to keep looking…An innocent man is out there dying and no one else cares!"

"Probably because he doesn't exist."

That had done it. She stomped up to him and held the gun against his pale face. "He does ex-"

The man grabbed her arm in one quick motion, hitting her elbow in another. The gun went flying out of her hand and onto the wood floor. He kept a tight grip on one wrist and forced that arm behind her back so she bent over due to the pressure. His other hand reached out and grabbed the wrapped hand. He took off the towel by pulling, causing her to cry out. In that moment though, all she could see was the blonde man before her… He wasn't dying; he was jumping, from branch to branch like a squirrel. He turned his head back, blue eyes glowing with delight. He was saying something, something to her. His lips were forming words. The breeze touched against her cheek, cooling her skin. She closed her eyes, this place was so beautiful.

Her eyes opened only to see a kitchen chair. Her face was pressed against the cold wood of the table. She let out a cry of frustration, but an elbow continued to push her head down.

"That's one nasty cut. I assume you got that from breaking my parents' window and getting in."

She tried turning and squirming, but to no avail. He had a good grip on her injured hand, and with his other arm he was both pressing her head and pinning her free hand in an awkward position.

"You cut it deep. I doubt you would have gotten very far with this. This is almost cut all the way to your wrist bone. You don't have very good luck, Miss Haruno."

There was no such thing as luck.

"I'm going to be letting you go now. My family's full of doctors I'm sure I can find something to bandage you up." He released her and began walking down the hallway.

"You're not going to turn me in?" She stood shakily, looking at the man.

He raised an eyebrow. "No. I suppose I won't."

"Why?"

He didn't answer, instead he continued his way down the hallway and into the bathroom, which she had recently left. She waited several moments, before deciding to follow him. He did say that his family was full of doctors. Perhaps he knew what he was doing.

When she got to the bathroom, she was surprised to see him dabbing a small washcloth with a clear bottle. He'd found the rubbing alcohol it seemed. It paid to know the house.

He put the bottle down and turned to her. He motioned for her to extend her arm and she did so. He closed the distance between them, walking to the inside of her hand. He didn't stop to look at her hand though, by the time her instinct kicked in that something was wrong he was right before her. He grabbed her quickly, pressing the cloth against her face. She struggled, but eventually she breathed and she collapsed against him. He took the cloth off and held her.

"Because I see it too," he finally responded, "I know the world that you speak of." His eyes flickered red for a moment, with black circles spinning around his iris, but in a heartbeat it was back to normal black. He grabbed her around the waist and with a heave he pulled her onto his shoulders.

Already his mind was planning the next several days, the exact story he would tell police and how he would need to clear out his basement to allow room for a bed. He was going to get the answers; he was going to find out what or who was in his head and in hers.

Part of him wanted to turn her in to the police, but the other resisted. The other knew her, and knew she would be of great use especially in finding out his memories. How many times had he held his cousin under the water and watched him die? The memories could not be true, because the man was still alive, but they were real. More real than the rest of this.


	12. Perception

_Prompt: Age Difference ItaSaku – given by Hushnelle approximately a year ago.  
Title: Perception  
Genre: Romance/Humor  
Summary: Prompt: Age Difference. As much as he wanted to confess to the girl on Valentine's Day, she probably thought he was some creepy, old man. And to make matters worse he actually has a creepy, blue man meddling in his affairs. ItaSaku Obvious AU and Fluff. _

_A/N: I hope everyone has a good Valentine's Day and those, who like me have no 'special someone', have my full permission to gorge on self-bought chocolate. ;) A thank you to Husnelle for the prompt, and for all of those who have been kind enough to leave review. _

_Please enjoy this Valentine's Day special. - Z.z  
_

* * *

He was so upset he was sick. Today was Valentine's Day and there was no doubt in his mind that the girl he'd been crushing on would be approached by the majority of the male population of her school. He wanted her to himself, but he could do nothing.

She was several years his younger, five to be exact, and that wasn't so bad, truly it wasn't. The fact that he looked five plus years his age and she looked younger by three was the problem. This made it difficult for him to approach her, because for all she knew he looked his age. He wasn't ugly, but he didn't look like a college student, and while those his age were entering their senior years at universities, he was also two years into his graduate study. It only added another reason for her to assume he was much older.

He heaved a heavy sigh as he relaxed in his driver's seat. He took his hands off the steering wheel to keep himself from being tense. His eyes looked over at his passenger seat where a thick book full of information for his next test stared back at him. He usually took the time to read, but today he couldn't concentrate. He was too impatient; he had to know what had happened to her at school.

He wanted to ask casually; but he felt if he even spoke, the words would reveal his true intentions. She was perceptive enough to know something was wrong though, just by him not reading when she tapped on the passenger window. He gave another sigh. Why he couldn't he just be normal… or at least look the part? But of course not.

Some of his instructors and most of his fellow colleagues respected him as their equal or elder and he'd long ago given up correcting them. He was twenty-one and yet he'd been invited to drinking functions as early as sixteen by men in their thirties. They'd been businessmen, people whom he'd met when he'd worked for his great uncle. The men had assumed he'd been one of them, not an unpaid intern who was only trying to get sponsorship and a letter of recommendation. When he was eighteen, he tried to buy alcohol as a personal test. The aluminum can and bottle of cheap scotch were then given to his older cousin. Shisui had been curious and had leaned in to sniff his breath, but then the man had simply taken the two containers of alcohol and that had been it. In this world it all came down to perception, not reality. So what did she perceive him as?

If he approached her, there would be no doubt on her course of action. His best friend had pretty much given him the exact words that would come from her mouth. He'd asked Kisame to help him earlier in the day with how to go about asking her out and the man had said to practice… so he did.

"Get away pedophile!" the man in his late thirties had cried in falsetto, yanking his blue, large and gruff hand away as if a disgusting creature stood before him.

He slammed his hand down in frustration, why hadn't he done something earlier? He should have been clear on both his intentions towards her and his age. He should have at least invited her to his birthday party. He hadn't though, and he wouldn't have wanted her around his friends and their poor attempts at trying to get him drunk. He could wait till his next birthday, but he was afraid to.

She was beautiful and he had a feeling that any day she'd bounce on his car, scream "shotgun!" to his younger brother and her other friend, sit beside him and tell him she'd finally met the man of her dreams and that the next day they would marry. Of course, he knew realistically it wouldn't happen like that, but she was more than beautiful; she was intelligent, passionate, caring, industrious, and no sane man would let her go once they had her. They would chain her heart with a ring and she'd be forever theirs. Forever out of his reach. He would be nothing more except her friend's older brother—not even a friend. He cursed himself and rested his head against the steering wheel of the car. Why couldn't he have been born younger… or at least look younger. He didn't though and the stress lines carved on his skin were more pronounced with his new worry about her.

A loud thump made him jerk up his head and turn. Green eyes watched with child interest and he unlocked the doors, hoping the owner of the eyes wouldn't ask what he'd been thinking about. Above all he hated lying, but he'd do anything to be beside her. To just see her, talk to her. She was the type of person who made him feel like a better one than he was.

She didn't say anything though; she hadn't even cried out to get the front seat. She carefully set down her bag in the back and picked up his book with ease, sat down and put the book in her lap. Her eyes looked directly in front of her and she gave no acknowledgement of his presence. She began fidgeting but no noise left her lips, which was beyond abnormal for the chattering girl he'd been watching for far too long without doing anything. Perhaps she was daydreaming about whatever man had confessed his love. He thought she'd be happier though. Maybe she hadn't seen it coming. She was a bit oblivious when it came to herself.

He turned his head and looked out the front window. His brother and the blond headed one were still not in sight. Several moments of silence passed before he looked back over at her, she was still looking out the window as if he didn't exist.

"Are you alright?" he asked, wondering if maybe his brother had said something to upset her. Sasuke was still a no show and he was known to go into hiding if a woman was mad at him. He called it "letting crazy b****es cool off" but it was fairly obvious that the kid was a coward. Maybe she had confessed and had been turned down. But then he almost scoffed at the notion. Who would turn her down?

Her lower lip trembled before she bit it and turned to look at him. She smiled; her lips too tight. Something was definitely wrong. His eyes scanned his peripheral, there was no black or blond. Where was his brother?

"I'm fine. What about you? Did you have a good Valentine's day? I see you got some chocolates and a bear… Did you receive or are you going to give them?" She asked.

"Chocolates?" he heard himself repeating like a dumbfounded cockatoo learning a new word. He hadn't gotten her chocolates. Why hadn't he gotten her chocolates? It was natural for a man to give chocolates to any female on Valentine's Day right? Why hadn't he even thought to do so? How could he be such an idiot? Surely the I.Q. tests were wrong in saying he was genius.

"In the back…" The girl murmured quietly, her eyes looking behind his seat.

He turned and tried to reach for what he couldn't see. Finally his hand gripped something firm and plastic. He pulled it back around, and yes, it was a box of chocolates. He looked at the tag and almost choked on the emotion of surprise. _To: The Most Beautiful Woman in Existence, Sakura Haruno. From: Your Soon To Be Husband, Itachi Uchiha. _

Nothing rational came to mind. The world suddenly stopped making any sense at all. The possibility of multiple universes became tangible, as another him had finally gotten the guts to do something about the girl before him. He opened the box, as if to somehow see what more the wormhole had in store. He picked up the piece of note paper inside and opened it.

There was no such thing as multiple universes. There was just a Shakespeare quoting Kisame… a soon to be dead Shakespeare quoting Kisame. He pressed his head against the steering wheel. She had almost read this; she could have reached into the back and read it. He would have lost all of his dignity and all chances of even being allowed to drive her home.

"Is she pretty?"

The sound of Sakura's quiet voice made him remember she was still in the car. The question though, caught him off guard.

"Who?" Had he missed something important?

"Is the person who gave you the chocolates pretty?"

"Kisame…pretty?" He raised an eyebrow at the thought and then shivered at the imagery that came from it. The sound of coughing sob stopped him though. He turned, only to see her grabbing for the handle of his car. His left hand hit the lock button immediately and her door wouldn't open. He grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to the center of the car to stop her from further escapes. "What's going on?" He was alarmed now. The girl was always so cheerful; this wasn't her.

She sobbed harder and started talking, but it was impossible to understand anything coming from her mouth. Seeing her like this was making him sick. He didn't know what to do. Was she in pain? Did someone hurt her? Perhaps she hadn't been able to deliver the chocolates to the one she'd been aiming for. While the thought wanted to make him happy, he couldn't bare the look of distress upon her face.

Trying to think of something to help her, he tried giving her a piece of chocolate. Woman liked chocolate, right? His mother popped M&M's when she was stressed. It seemed probable that Sakura would like it too. "Here."

His hand was slapped away, and her green eyes glared from behind puffy lids. "I don't want some other girl's chocolate!"

"Kisame isn't some girl."

"I don't care what her name is!" She pulled away from him, trying get as far away as possible.

He held tighter. If she wasn't crying, he'd be laughing at the misunderstanding. As it was, he was too petrified to make such a joke. "No," he explained, "I mean Kisame really isn't some girl. He's a thirty-five year old man who hasn't stopped playing pranks."

"Man?" The girl froze as if he'd just told her Sasuke was pregnant. "You got chocolates from a man?"

Itachi sighed, not quite sure how to go about explaining Kisame. He obviously couldn't give her the lid to the box or the note, both were incriminating against him.

"You're gay," Sakura's mouth popped open and formed a rather large 'o' as she came to her own conclusion.

He choked on air at the blunt statement and then fear gripped his heart. Not only was he probably a thirty year-old guy in her eyes, but now he was going to be a gay thirty year-old guy… What did he do to deserve this? Had he killed his entire family in a past life? Why would she assume something like that? Moreover, why was Kisame his best-friend?

"No, no, no, no," He quickly emphasized after recovering from choking. "I'm not gay." Was it because he kept his hair long? A lot of people had asked him such in the past. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Not only should he have invited her to his birthday, he should have cut his hair too.

"It was a prank," he tried to clarify.

Her right, beautiful pink eyebrow raised, and the rock in his gut told him that she didn't believe him. Her hand reached out and touched his shoulder, "We're friends; you can tell me…"

They were friends? He immediately felt himself relax at the word. It was one step closer to what he'd been before; it meant he meant something to her. But then the last part of her sentence hit him. The context...

"I am not gay." He was utterly in love with the girl he was trying to make believe that. Why was all of this so frustrating!

She blinked realizing he was being serious. She sighed in relief and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Thank goodness. That would have been a waste."

"Waste?" what would have been a waste?

Her green eyes widened as she knew her tongue had slipped up on something. "Nothing," she smiled too widely, her hand retracting (to his displeasure) to scratch the back of her head. "I meant it would have been a waste to the female population."

That… What was that supposed to mean? "I'm not sure I understand…"

"So is it ok if I have one?" The girl pointed to the box, trying to distract the man from asking about clarification.

"They're yours; Kisame got them for you..." Itachi told her, his voice trailing off as he tried to decipher her cryptic words.

Her head tilted to the side. "Really?" She sounded doubtful.

"Yes," he gave her the bottom of the container, keeping the lid and note. He tried to go over the words in her mind as he didn't quite understand the intention. A genetic waste of procreation, perhaps? Why would she worry about such a thing? His thoughts were cut short though when both of his back doors opened. His brother and the blond-headed one had arrived.

There was the sound of a rustling bag and Itachi turned to look. His brother was holding a grocery tote full of chocolates; they were extended away from him though, as if he couldn't stand the thought of them being near him. Itachi gave a reassuring smile to his scowling brother; he remembered getting that many when he was in school. But now that he thought on it… had his brother received half from men like him, or all from females? He thought his masculinity was well defined, how long he had been so oblivious to how other perceived him.

"Oh, did your girlfriend get you a stuffed bear, Itachi?" Naruto asked, reaching down and picking up the object.

Immediate horror filled Itachi, if it was anything like the chocolates then he was going to die, literally. He tried to snatch the toy, but the kid had already huddled in the back out of his reach.

"To:, " Naruto began to read, thinking it incriminating evidence of 'lovey-dovey' talk; then his smile dropped, "the kid I always complain about to my friends for being too loud, Naruto Who's last name has never been mentioned due to lack of importance. From: the person who wishes it was legal to stuff people in the trunk and duct tape their mouths shut, Itachi Uchiha."

It was the first time Itachi had ever seen Naruto at a loss for words. The boy's mouth hung open, then it shut, then it hung open again. He was going to kill Kisame, slowly and painfully by carving his skin off with a plastic spork.

Sasuke was the first to start chuckling, which then turned to full out laughter. He dropped his bag of goods and took the bear from Naruto. He stilled his laughter to read it again, and then he started snorting and smirking.

Itachi turned to face forward, to drive off while trying to think of a way to fix it, but his eyes looked into glaring green.

"What does mine say?" Sakura looked peeved, a bit more than peeved and Itachi once more wondered why in the world Kisame was his best friend.

"It doesn't matter, they were pranks written by a friend of mine," Itachi slid the carton and message under the seat with his foot, making sure it didn't go too far back.

"Sakura got one too!" Naruto cried, immediately sticking his head in the open middle, "Come on; let us see it!"

Sasuke looked up, almost delighted at the thought of another one of his friends being insulted. "Can we see the box?"

Itachi pulled out, ignoring the three that were now making enough noise to blow out his ears.

"Please!" they chimed in unison as if that would somehow change his mind.

"No."

More noise followed, as they began trying to guess what the message said. By the time they had arrived at his mother's house they were yanking at his hair, begging, complaining. Itachi truly wished he did have rope and duct tape in the back of his car; he also wished he had enough trunk space to fit two (there was no way he'd ever be so rude to Sakura even if she was being just as loud and obnoxious as the boys.)

"Out," He snarled, giving the two in the back a glare that finally got them both to shut up. Slowly, they gathered their things and began to leave.

"Please, can I know?" Sakura asked, fluttering her eye lids and biting her lip.

He thought about it for a moment, he could play it off… maybe. In fact, if she reacted well to it, he could tell her the truth. But then again… What if she didn't? He shook his head; he couldn't let things between them become awkward. He liked her far too much. "No."

She gave a dejected sigh, and her lower lip trembled slightly.

A guilty pit entered Itachi's stomach and he couldn't help but want to reassure her someway. He couldn't hug her, or tell her anything about the note. If he said it wasn't as bad as Naruto's, she'd still wonder why he wouldn't let her read it. Then he'd just get hassled again by the four ears still perked in the back, listening to Sakura and his conversation. Instead he settled for poking her forehead. "Don't worry about it Sakura." He gave a gentle smile, hoping that it came off normal. After all, he had killing intent leaking from his pores and if Kisame had any form of precognition ability he'd be running for the hills.

All three highschoolers gave sighs in unison while getting out of the car. And with a wave goodbye Itachi headed off, forgetting everything except his plan in which to end his so called 'best friend.' Itachi took his time driving, in no rush to get there. A smirk made its way to his lips as he began to scheme. After walking to the door it took tremendous effort to knock like usual, it wouldn't do to give away the game.

"I figured you'd be here sooner or later."

Itachi quickly looked up, staring into black beady eyes that were watching safely behind the screen of a window on the second story.

"Good afterno—,"Itachi began only to notice that the man was staring at him with a knowing smile. The blue skinned man was already aware of what he knew. Itachi's attitude shifted dramatically.

"I am going to torture you to death," Itachi said, his teeth showing and his eyes almost glowing red. "If she had read that note…" Itachi's hand tightened into a fist, and his body trembled as he was unable to go about explaining his worst nightmares and fears.

Kisame then chuckled, "Ah, I figured you'd catch the box before she had a chance to see the lid. I hope you at least offered her the chocolates, poor girl."

Itachi narrowed his eyes and gave his best glare, "I don't find it funny."

Kisame howled with laughter then, looking at Itachi it took him several moments to finally gain control over his laughter. Finally he wiped at his eyes. "You didn't break down my door."

Itachi tried to smile but it felt more like a grimace, "And what anger do I hold against your door?"

Kisame laughed again, more thoroughly than before. "You didn't read the message at the bottom of the box, did you?"

The smile dropped. His fists loosened. The anger died away. The world became blackened. There had been a message at the bottom of the box, the box which was currently in the possession of the only girl in the world that mattered to him. His heart skipped several beats. How long did it take a girl to eat chocolate?

Fire burned through his entire system as his brain tried to function. "What did you write?"

The blue man just laughed.

"Kisame, what did you write!"

Said man shut the window.

Itachi then snapped, slamming the door with his right fist. He thought about breaking down the door, but then there was the thought that maybe he would be able to get the box back from Sakura. He took off, running this time, down the patio and to his car on the side of the street. He fumbled with the keys, and put his car in reverse instead of drive. He felt as if his car couldn't go fast enough and he was hitting every stop light. What had Kisame done?

When he pulled up to his parent's house, he was a mess. He couldn't catch his breath, his hands were literally shaking. He slammed the door of his car with a lot more force than necessary and made his way up to the house.

The door burst open and Sakura stepped out, empty box in hand.

Itachi froze. His black eyes widened as she rushed forward. She looked flushed with anger and by the time she got to him, he thought she was going to hit him and tell him she never wanted to see him again. Instead though, she jumped him, practically leaping into his arms. Her own arms looped around his neck and she clung to him. Then she kissed his cheek and lips. And he kissed back.

When they broke apart, he blurted out the only thought that had been echoing in his mind since he'd left Kisame's house. "What did Kisame write?"

She smiled, her green eyes glimmering with a devilish light. "He said you wanted to ask me to go on a date with you to the movies this Saturday."

His eyes widened; Kisame had asked Sakura to date him? Itachi blushed, trying to form the words to ask the question himself.

He didn't have to though as she reached up and kissed him once again on the lips. "My answer is yes," she told him and then her smile grew wicked, "Mr. Pedophile."

Kisame would die. Die a painful death.


	13. Shinobi

_Title: Shinobi_

_Summary: ~ Life is made up of moments and it is those moments that make life worth living. ~ SakXIta _

_A/N: These were word prompts to get me back into the spirit of writing. There's quite a few. Be warned it seems like the further down, the squishier it gets x.x I think I'll go back to writing non-squishy stuff. On a happy note: this is probably the most 'finished' piece I've ever done, and I'm quite proud of that. _

_I appreciate and read all reviews (as well as try to respond to them). Please write one if you have the spare time._

_Thank you for taking the time to read my story, I hope you enjoy._

_Warning/Note: Those of you who feel you __must __have ages associated with a timeline, don't read this fic – you won't like it. That being said, its in chronological order. _

* * *

Shinobi

* * *

Practice

When she first walked to the Uchiha home, he was outside practicing hand signs. He did them slowly, so slowly that it looked unnatural and uncomfortable. She found it hard to believe that this was the brother her friend thought was the greatest shinobi.

She made her way to the door, the entire time keeping her eyes upon him. Not once did he give her a glance or shift his eyes away from his hands. The lower half of his body was perfectly still, in a deep stance. Only his waist shifted, and that was barely noticeable.

When she knocked he did not even give a pause, his hands continued to shift like flowing water.

When she ate lunch outside with her friend, he was still there. When she looked out the window after several games of shogi, he was still there. When she left, he was in the same position, still going just as slowing through the hand movements.

While she was shy, her child curiosity got the best of her. "What are you doing?"

He did not look at her, but answered, "Practicing."

"Why?"

His eyes then went to her and his movements stopped. At first she thought he was going to reprimand her for speaking, but instead he answered with all sincerity. "Because that is what it takes."

* * *

Compassion

Her cheeks were quite puffy from crying, her eyes sunken. She sat on a bench near the entrance of the hospital fiddling with a kunai.

"It is not that serious," he told her, trying to comfort her about her team. It was only a couple of scrapes and bruises, both would live.

"That's not it," she replied, her green eyes glaring at him. "Look at me. Look! I'm not a shinobi and I never will be."

He tilted his head to the side, trying to find empathy for the girl. But he could not relate. There had never been a choice for him. He had to be shinobi and good one at that. He'd been born in war; he'd been born to protect. It was so inbred in him that even when he'd fallen, he had no choice but continue or die trying.

He had no words of comfort. There was not even the pull of compassion that usually led him to pat a head or give a shoulder squeeze.

"Come with me."

She followed him to the training grounds, several feet behind his tall figure.

Without giving any notice, he turned and threw a shuriken at her. Although he'd thrown it with less speed than normal, he still aimed it directly at her upper chest, above the heart.

Her hand whipped out on instinct, the kunai she'd kept in her hands cut the shuriken so that it flew away and into a tree. Her eyes were wide in shock at what he'd just done.

He gave a shrug. "I am looking." And then he turned away and left her standing in the field, her kunai in the perfect position to block such an attack.

* * *

Metallic

There was a metallic smell in the air. And it made a lump form in the bottom of her throat. She pressed forward, running with all of her might to keep up with the people in front of her and to not hinder those running behind.

By the time they came to breaks she could barely keep a conscious thought. But when he gave the command to get up again, she jumped to his very words. Her eyes were trained on the black ponytail. Subconsciously she knew that even though she couldn't think, he could and knew that she couldn't. He would not let her die or come to harm.

When they got inside of Konoha, he immediately pulled off the adolescent body of his brother, her teammate, to a medic who could help him.

The body of her other teammate was also rushed away. Her teacher was following them, leaning on one leg more than the other. His grey hair followed the medic holding the blond.

Her eyes partly closed and she reopened them. She lost sight of him and there were no more familiar faces. They were all in masks and for the first time, even though they were from her homeland, they made her scared.

They were talking around her, but she could hear nothing but her own heartbeat from the run she had just endured. Her legs were shaking from the strain, well, her whole body was shaking. Her eyes glanced around her for an opening between the unfamiliar bodies. There must be someplace she could rest.

She walked off to the side and sat on one of the stone benches. She coughed several times into her hands, not caring that it was impolite. Her throat felt raw, her chest as if it would explode. She tried to relax, but it was hard with her body still quivering.

A hand touched her face and her eyes shot open. Disoriented, she realized how much colder everything was. She'd fallen asleep.

"Are you alright?"

Her eyes glanced to the face. There was no more mask. Just him.

She gave a nod, still trying to orient herself. "I need to see them-"

"They are fine and sleeping," he cut off her demand.

He then picked her up, putting her on his shoulder, just like he'd done with his brother, and began walking. His long strides were even and her eyelids closed, feeling safe. She was out again, in a matter of moments.

When she awoke again a hot plate of food was put before her. People were all around her. She barely had enough energy to pick bowl of hot stew and sip let alone listen to the argument about her.

"Itachi had to carry her in-"

"It doesn't matter if he carried her in she made it to the village. That was the bet!"

"No, the girl quit."

"She fell asleep while we were busy giving our information; you never said she had to stay awake, Shisui."

"...Fine, drink's on me."

* * *

Flabbergast

"What are you up to, Itachi?"

"What do you mean, Shisui?"

"You were thinking about something over dinner. Wouldn't even make conversation..."

"I was just thinking, when Sakura passes her chunins, I might train her. That is all."

"You, a teacher?" Shisui scoffed. "Seriously?"

"She needs someone that will push her, if she wants to get to jounin. Kakashi always pushed himself; he doesn't understand what she needs."

"And you needed someone to push you?"

"No," Itachi paused, debating the words to explain his conclusion, "but I don't allow anyone to fall below my expectations."

Shisui let out a long whistle. "She'll probably go insane within a week."

Itachi turned then, and looked his cousin in the eyes. "Want to make a bet on it?"

* * *

Shove

Each blow to her side, her ribs, made her want to puke. He was withholding his power, but it still hurt. This was block training, and every time she didn't block correctly another hit came upon her. She'd been honored, truly honored to work with such a renowned ninja. But this wasn't what she had imagined training would be like.

This was hard. She could barely block one out of every twelve attacks. And it was worse knowing he was neither going at full speed nor hitting with full strength. This was his 'easy' and it was still the hardest thing she'd ever done.

It was only the first week.

Another blow hit her, this one on bread basket. She lost all air, coughing and gasping until she fell on her knees. While her spit dripped to the ground, he squatted beside her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She looked at him, his facial expression told nothing. She wanted to give up. She wanted to continue. She wanted to cry. But most of all, she wanted to rise to his challenge. She wanted the greatest shinobi in the village to be proud of her.

She launched herself at him. Not to catch him by surprise, as that would be impossible, but to answer the question. She tried to attack his throat with a technique he'd taught earlier in the day.

He grabbed her hand, tossed her to the ground and her body gave a resounding smack.

Her eyes went to his face. The expression had softened and for a moment she thought he'd call it quits and maybe take her to ramen like her old sensei.

But instead he shoved her up and into the air with his foot. He continued to launch his assault, leaving each blow with the same pain as before. The only thing that kept her standing and fighting was the hope that one day she'd be able to keep up, at least with his 'easy'.

* * *

Slip

She was climbing the rock ledge, moving swiftly while testing out the ability to attach herself via chakra. She'd been sent off to practice after he'd demonstrated the technique.

Everything before had been so difficult, but this, this came easy. She began experimenting; she attached her feet to the surface and began walking up the steep vertical. She walked several feet before wanting to try something new again. She wanted to jump and reattach.

Gravity did not go into the mountain, it went down. The common fact only occurred to her after she pushed off of the surface and had released the attachment.

She dropped several feet before slamming into the first cliff extension. The angle of impact sent her spinning as she continued her fall. With pain searing through her leg, she tried to maintain focus, knowing her life depended on it. She outstretched her hands, trying to use her chakra to re-attach herself to the mountain. In her panic, she put too much, and the rock shattered before her fingers. She slammed into another ledge. And then something slammed into her.

It hit her side, ramming her against the wall of rock. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was no longer falling.

Black eyes looked down at her; the normal expressionless face was glaring. "You foolish, little girl."

* * *

Tired

After fourteen hours of hell, she found herself in a booth opposite of her trainer. His black eyes were scanning the menu casually, although he always ordered the same thing.

He looked to have taken a slow walk outside. There was not a bead of sweat on his brow or dirt on his clothes. She, on the other hand, looked like a mess, as if she'd been dragged through the village by a horse. Acknowledging the difference between their abilities was always hard for her. Seven months and she felt she hadn't improved in the slightest.

There was always the doubt that she wasn't cut out for this. And she probably wasn't. But she knew that the person before her had given up his position as an ANBU operative to get her trained. Therefore he had faith in her.

She closed her eyes, feeling drained by the day. She couldn't wait to get home and rest, although she knew she had several more hours of practicing—'homework' as he called it. And if she didn't practice tonight she would have to get up before dawn to study, since he'd test her on it. Going to sleep this tired would make it impossible to wake up early and she had no desire to get the crap beat out of her. So, bed would be prolonged.

She cracked her neck and opened her eyes as the waitress made her way to the table to take their order. He at least bought her decent food, not being as stingy as her old teacher or as allusive. When she needed to find him, she never had to look too hard. He was always willing to answer any question she had.

She broke apart her chopsticks and gave them a quick brushing before spinning them around in her hand.

It was then that she felt it. She wasn't even sure she could define 'it'. Every hair on the back her neck raised. Her heart rate increased. She became wide awake within a second. There was a wave of fresh air, not from the market place outside, but of the forest. The difference was acutely distinct in her mind. 'It' was wrong.

One chopstick flew from her fingers to where it felt to be coming from, an empty place of air next to her teacher's head. Well, once empty. There was body there in an instant and it had to lean back quickly to dodge her attack.

The new pair of black eyes stared at her, lips twitching to the side.

She wondered for a second if this was some important family member, one she'd never met, and that what she'd done was highly offensive. But her teacher continued drinking his tea, undisturbed by what had just happened.

"Fine," the new man declared so suddenly and loudly that it spooked her. "I'll buy dinner."

Itachi only shrugged, sparing a glance at Shisui, "A bet's a bet."

* * *

Bluff

He threw himself sideways, raising his leg as if to kick.

Green eyes anticipated his movements, and her body was already turning sideways to follow his blow and to pull away unharmed.

He was just bluffing though. And he had never bluffed with her before.

He slammed his foot back down, propelling forward, his fist drawn back.

Her eyes dilated. Her realization was too late.

He swung his arm; his forearm slammed into her chest bone.

The force threw her backward, and he continued in pushing her down.

Her body slammed against the ground and back up into his forearm.

She used the normal force and added her own momentum to tip herself and him.

That was the correct move, she was improving.

He allowed the movement to continue and they flipped.

Her fist came out as he was turned onto his back.

He caught it before it could do the planned damage to his head.

"Well done."

* * *

Misapprehend

They flew through the night, their feet pounding against the branches in unison.

They were jounin; they were a team; they were strong. They were united and nothing, absolutely nothing, could separate them.

When the first suspicious character appeared below them, they were quick to fly upon him with full fury and gusto. Within moments all three were in the midst of a powerful genjutsu. They were each pulled from the vision by a hit to the head.

Before them was one of the top ANBU leaders of their village. Yet he was not dressed in ANBU gear. His eyes were glaring and speckled with red.

They knew they were done for, truly, utterly done for.

"I expected such pathetic behavior from you two," Itachi finally spoke, motioning to the two men on his left. He then looked at the one female member of the squad. "But Sakura, I find this rather embarrassing."

The two males sighed in relief. It would only be their teammate that was a goner. And so they left her, continued on their way, ignoring the guilty feeling of leaving a comrade behind. After all, she'd be taking this one for the team.

* * *

Banging

As Itachi walked up to her, she could see the pride in his eyes. There was a smirk on the corner of his lips and behind him she could also see Shisui glowering.

If she wasn't about to fall over dead from her heart giving out; she would be shouting, banging around and dancing like the blond man beside her. Instead, she only gave a meek smile, and let out a breath of relief. It was done. Whether she passed or not no longer mattered. The look of approval meant she did well, and even if she did not succeed this time, she would the next.

He handed her the mask and then extended his hand to shake hers.

She was finally one of the elite. But more importantly, she was finally equal with him.

* * *

Prewar

The morning air was still. The only sound was the birds chirping in the trees. She rested her back against a tree and waited to let her breathing return to normal. She stretched her muscles, flexing slightly. There was a pleasant feeling that always came after a workout. She glanced at her sparring partner, although he was breathing like nothing was wrong, his clothes were caked in dust and there was sweat on his brow.

His black eyes went to her, as if sensing her stare.

"Ready to go again?" she asked, stretching her arms out to one side. Several more minutes and she'd be ready.

"No."

The simple reply caught her off-guard; it broke with their routine for Wednesdays. Usually they sparred until one of them (she) couldn't go any longer.

Before she could question the reason, he asked a question of his own. "Would you go to breakfast with me?"

Her head tilted to the side. "Um... I've already eaten." Had he forgotten to eat?

"So have I."

Her eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to understand why he'd want to go to breakfast if he'd already eaten. When she looked back up at him, to question further, he was inches away from her face. Surprised at the proximity, she tried to step back, only to run into the tree.

He kissed her then, quite unchaste with her mouth being slightly apart.

He backed off after several moments. When she still had not reacted, he asked another question, "How about lunch?"

* * *

War

At first it didn't matter, the world could go to hell. But seeing so much blood and death did not leave them unscathed. Slowly both became morphed by what they saw. They stopped talking about their plans for the future, their hopes and dreams. They needed to lock them away, forget about them. They told themselves it had to be done.

Then eventually they believed it would be easier if they were friends. The death of a friend would be far less painful than that of a lover. But even when the kisses turned into reassuring smiles, the worry didn't lessen.

Regardless of their attempts, love was not something that could be disregarded so easily.

* * *

Human

She sat beside the bed, fingers twiddling with a shuriken. She didn't like the smell, the sight, the obnoxious beeping. She didn't like seeing the face so shrunken, fingers so relaxed, and skin so lifeless. Yet she couldn't bear leaving.

They said he barely made it back to the entrance of the village, carrying a comrade who was already dead. He'd undergone several surgeries and blood transfusions.

It was sickening to behold him and the truth, even the best didn't last long in their profession. But it was more than just that which sickened her. He was supposed to be perfect. But this was reality and he was a just human.

They were all just humans.

She bit down on her lower lip and continued to rotate the weapon between her fingers. She forced herself not to cry. Tears were childish, unbecoming of an ANBU operative. They also meant that she'd be accepting this was reality. And she wouldn't allow herself to succumb to it, not yet.

* * *

Tantrum

The wound wasn't noticeable unless one was looking. His strides were not even: long, short, long. And his steps were no longer smooth. He refused to use a cane, and any suggestion to do so brought upon an ice cold glare.

He didn't seem to be taking off-duty well, and with that in mind, she sought him out as soon as she returned to the village instead of getting food and resting.

She found him meditating in his backyard garden. She jumped, landing in his vision were he to open his eyes. The fact that he chose not to acknowledge her meant she was going to have to wait. There was no point in forcing him to do anything.

That being said, she sighed loudly, before sitting next to him. His garden was looking a bit nicer, now that he had time on his hands.

When her stomach finally gurgled in protest, he opened his eyes.

"What are you doing here, Sakura?" he sounded annoyed.

"I am sitting, marveling at your green thumb," she tried to copy the tone of his voice but failed.

"I don't need your sympathy."

"I'm not giving it to you."

He was now glaring, and she was reminded that he was still a formidable enemy. But she held her own, not looking him in the eyes (as that would be foolhardy). Instead she stared nonchalantly at the garden, as if she had all the time in the world.

Then her stomach gurgled again.

"Go get yourself some food."

She sighed, ignored the ordering tone and rested her back upon the grass to stare at the sky.

"Sakura," his voice rose, it was the most upset she'd ever seen or heard him.

"It's demeaning for a woman of my age and single status to have to pay for her own meal."

He didn't fall for the bait. "Then go make yourself something to eat."

"I'm an awful cook."

"Get off my property."

She didn't budge. His face appeared in her vision, his eyes swirling with only one tomoe in each. She'd never seen him like this. He might have been stressed on missions, but the lines on his face seemed even more pronounced than they ever were. He looked old. It hurt more than any blow she'd ever felt on her body.

"Sakura, stop acting like an annoying, lovesick girl; I told you to leave." He knew exactly what to say to hurt people.

She knew it had been coming though, so instead she rebutted without hesitation, "Maybe if you stop throwing a tantrum."

Three tomoe appeared.

She knew better than to stick around. She flew through a substitution jutsu and tried to make her way to the nearest tree. She could feel the heat of a fire jutsu come from behind her, so she rolled to the side.

She threw several shuriken at her opponent, who easily used another shuriken to send them flying.

In a mere moment he was before her, and she tried to hit him in the jaw with her fist. He dodged, grabbed her arm and sent her through the air. She slid across the ground and gave a cough, then quickly turned to face him again.

He was still in the same place, as if frozen.

Her eyes widened when she realized his leg was bleeding. "Shit, shit, shit." The stitches must have come loose.

Pain erupted on her face and she was dragged to her feet. She stared directly into his red eyes. It had only been a genjutsu.

If he had been mad before, he was furious now. "Do you really believe I am so weak?" There was hatred in the words and his lips curled into a snarl.

She hit him for that, right on the cheek. She was surprised that he didn't even block it. He kept both hands gripped upon her shirt collar and was still in her face.

"You're not the weak one!" she spit at him, "I am!"

She tried to hit him again, this time he caught the blow. Her own anger had boiled to the surface and she always had a hard time controlling it once it was there. She tried to slug him again. "What am I supposed to do if something happens to you!"

Again, again she tried to hit him, "What am I supposed to do?" She tried again, again, lurching at his face. She fell on top of him then, tripping over a stone, shinobi training lost in her anger.

She stared down at him through blurry eyes. Her tears dripped upon his cheeks. She felt like a fool, a little girl again. She hated this feeling of weakness, of emotion. Her fist slammed upon his upper arm. She drew back her hand, aiming to punch him in the throat.

He blocked it, causing her to become off balanced and fall upon him. She tried to draw herself up, but one of his arms had looped around her waist, keeping her where she was.

She began struggling, and he continued to hold her.

Eventually, she relaxed; he wasn't going to let her up until he was ready. The one hand not occupied in holding her, touched the top of her head and he brushed her hair in affection to calm her down.

After some time past, he finally spoke, "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do anymore." It wasn't an apology, more of an excuse, but it was the truth. He'd never trained for anything other than shinobi life. He was supposed to have several more years left before he took over the clan and the police force. And even with the latter, he'd probably only be working at a desk job now.

She pressed her cheek against his neck and, wrapped her arms around him. She wanted to ease his pain. She wanted to say exactly what he needed to hear. But she didn't know what she could say.

Her stomach gave a groan.

He gave a light sigh, one that always came when he gave into her whims. Her heart lightened, if only a bit.

"Let me buy you dinner, Sakura."

* * *

Rest

She wrapped one arm around him, resting her head upon his shoulder. It was the first time in a long time she'd woken up feeling so relaxed.

His hand was tracing a seal upon her bare stomach. His other arm was wrapped around her neck, supporting her head.

She re-closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth from both her partner and the sunshine. She blinked and looked at the light coming through the blinds. "What time is it?"

"Not time to get up."

She shifted a bit uneasy.

"I'm not going to let you be late for a mission briefing, Sakura," he sighed. He touched his forehead with hers. "How are you feeling?"

She stretched, wrapped a leg around his and turned, becoming partially sprawled across him. She kissed him before answering. "Good."

His lips twisted slightly in a tease, "Just good?"

She kissed him again, "How long until I need to get up?"

"Long enough."

* * *

Expectation

She was sitting at the restaurant before he arrived. She was fiddling with a kunai below the tabletop and her eyes went back and forth as if reading something. She moved one hand upon the table. Her fingernails tapped against the top as she waited for him.

She'd made her decision.

He took a deep breath, preparing himself, and then walked further into the room. He sat across from her on the booth and she looked up at him. She fidgeted slightly, and her mouth opened. She shut it quickly and fidgeted again.

He pretended not to notice, and motioned to the waiter to take their order. They'd been coming for years; it was useless to look at the menu.

When the man left, he turned his attention back to her.

"I submitted my form and my application was accepted. The hokage has approved my transfer from ANBU to Konoha's Academy. I'll start teaching in a couple weeks."

He blinked, several times. He thought the answer would be more direct.

* * *

Doorway

The little girl stumbled down the hallway, falling several times. She shook her bob of black hair before pulling herself up. Eventually though, she made it to him.

He whisked her up and tickled her, she squealed with delight before struggling for freedom.

He let her go and off she went with a plastic shuriken in hand, to attack her next victim. The woman pretended to be surprised, although she'd been watching from the doorway the entire time.

The little one took off again, back to her own room.

Itachi smiled as she ran slightly lopsided, and then looked back to his wife.

Her hand was to her mouth, but then she caught his eye and broke into full laughter.

* * *

Consent

She was surprised when the young man showed up at the house. But when he asked to speak with her husband and her, it clicked immediately in her head. She was quick to show him to the table, and she smiled gently at the clearly shaken gentleman. He was nothing like his boisterous father. In fact, the only thing he seemed to pick up from Naruto was the golden locks.

The male began quivering when the thump alerted him to the entry of her husband. After many years, Itachi had finally relented into using a cane.

As if sensing the intent of the visit, her husband was staring at the man with all three red tomoe swirling. She couldn't blame the kid for shaking. It was enough to even make even an elite ANBU fidgety.

"Is there something you needed?" Yes, her husband already knew exactly what the man wanted.

The man shook more violently at the crisp tone and began stuttering all over the place.

They let it go on for about fifteen minutes before her husband slammed his cane upon the table.

"I would like permission to marry your daughter!"

Green eyes met black and both of them gave a knowing smile. Her husband was the one that answered. "You can have it-"

The boy released a breath of ease.

Sakura finished her husband's sentence, "Maybe..."

* * *

Slumber

He awakened before the first bird praised the sky.

He knew, before his white eyelashes fluttered. He knew, the sickest feeling in his stomach.

He moved slowly, his body hurting as it felt too old to bend in any position. But he had to. He turned to see her.

Her white hair was sprayed upon the pillow. Her eyes closed, her lips closed. There was no rise or fall of her chest, or the sound of her breath. She was motionless. One hand was still upon his shoulder; it was just beginning to chill.

He moved forward, slipping an arm around her waist, pulling her towards him. He kissed her cheek, the top of her head. He held her close. He held her tight.

He kissed her once more and let the tears silently fall from his eyes.

* * *

Finality

He lived several years after her passing.

The day that he died, his family found him far from home. He'd walked to an old training area, specifically to a place where the two of them used to train. He'd sat underneath the same tree they used to stretch under.

The book of haiku had fallen from him lap in the distress of the heart attack. His glasses lay on the grass a foot from his face. His eyes had been opened, his hand outstretched, as if reaching for something.

There was nothing though, nothing but an empty field.

But to a dying man perhaps there had been someone there.

Mayhap she'd been sitting, pink hair tied up, hands fiddling with a kunai, awaiting his arrival.


End file.
